Sonata and Fugue
by Kinematics
Summary: Tenten helping one little girl when she needed a friend. Naruto's determination to secure a family legacy. Sasuke's fight to avoid tone-deaf classmates. Surely there's a brighter future awaiting them?
1. Bloom

Tenten scowled at the petite pink-haired girl that was reluctantly revealing herself from behind a tall tree. Hiding in the throwing range where students practiced was dangerous. She was just lucky(?) that no one else was out here training. Certainly Tenten herself would never miss a target, but.. Wait! She was getting off track.

"So," Tenten drawled out, trying to act at least somewhat responsible. "What do you think you're doing, hiding out in a dangerous place like this? Don't you — " Tenten paused. "Hold on. Didn't I see you sneaking into the bathrooms in the sixth year building this morning?"

Sakura's embarrassment was complemented by a bright red blush at that question.

This morning the instructors throughout the school had made a special announcement. "Due to an unfortunate... 'incident'.. the washrooms in the east wing have been closed. We expect the plumbing to be fixed by the end of the day, but for the time being please refrain from using them."

Sakura usually used the east wing restroom — far from her own classroom — as a hiding spot where she could eat lunch in private, away from... well, where she wouldn't be disturbed. This incident had forced her to seek refuge elsewhere.

Of course, she also used the restroom to hide after school, leaving well after the other students had gone home, to avoid other kinds of trouble. However crossing the yard to one of the other buildings wasn't an option, then, as it was too visible to the students going home. Instead, she made her way to one of the back fields and found a place among the trees to hide. She could always tell her parents that she lost track of time in the library.

Unfortunately, she couldn't dodge the girl in front of her quite as easily.

Tenten sighed as she looked at the other girl, and just shook her head. "Look, I don't mind if you want to practice out here, too, but you need to be more careful about where you do it. Just.. stay out of the way of the targets, please."

The pink-haired girl nodded and dashed to the side hurriedly, but oddly enough stayed to watch Tenten for some time. Tenten grimaced in embarrassment every time she missed her mark, with her personal audience there, but pushed the emotion down and kept working. She had a talent for throwing, and weapons in general, but knew she'd still have to work hard to become a truly legendary ninja. She certainly wasn't going to stop due to some minor embarrassment!

* * *

><p>By the end of the next week, Sakura had become a regular presence watching Tenten's afternoon practices. Tenten tried to keep something like a conversation going, though the shy girl barely said more than a couple words at a time, if she couldn't get away with just a nod or a shake of the head.<p>

She seemed to enjoy reading and doing homework; she usually had a book on her lap, and easily got lost in her reading, or taking notes. Still...

"Hey! Sakura!"

Sakura jolted up, surprised at the sudden call.

"You're always over there reading. Aren't you training to be a ninja?" Sakura gave a short nod, but Tenten continued almost immediately. "Well, learning stuff's all well and good, but if all you ever do is read books, you're only ever gonna be good for sitting behind a desk. Hardly a real ninja," she finished, with a hint of exasperation. To Tenten, training was Important, with a capital 'I'. She was growing fond of the younger girl, but would be happier if the girl shared her enthusiasm for such things.

Sakura mumbled something, her face down, that Tenten didn't catch. Tenten stared at her a moment, before coming to a decision.

"Right! Come on over here." Tenten dragged Sakura up and over towards the targets. Sakura yelped as her book tumbled to the ground, trying frantically to simultaneously escape Tenten's grasp, recover her book, and make sure no one was around to see her in this state. In the end, Tenten had her way.

"So," Tenten continued, placing her hands on Sakura's shoulders to get her to face the target. "Let's try some throwing, eh?" She smiled encouragingly at Sakura, and handed her several throwing kunai. "Just practice throwing a few. See what it's like."

Sakura glanced longingly over at where her book had tumbled, but gathered her wits and tried to do as she was asked. Good girls do what they're told, whether by her parents, her teachers, or her sempai. She'd try her best.

For several minutes, she continued throwing. Periodically Tenten would call a halt while she gathered up the practice kunai that Sakura had used, and then return them to Sakura, giving her an encouraging smile. A smile that seemed to become stiffer and more forced with each attempt.

After the 10th round, as Tenten jogged back to her, Sakura tried to speak. "Tenten, I— I'm not sure-"

"Ya know what? Throwing's not for everyone." Tenten interrupted her. "Just 'cause I've got a knack for it doesn't mean I should expect everyone to be the same." She gave a self-deprecating little laugh. "Heck, if everyone were good at throwing, then what would my specialty be?" She grinned at Sakura. "How about just a little sparring instead? Something we can do to wind down at the end of the day, eh?"

Sakura relaxed as she smiled up at the older girl, though the smile only seemed half-complete.

* * *

><p>"Sakura?" Tenten asked hesitantly, unsure about how to bring this up. Sakura wasn't going to win any awards for her fighting skills, but she did show competence with the forms — enough to show that she paid attention in class. However for the last few days, things had felt.. 'off'. "You <em>have<em> been practicing chakra control in class, right? I mean, you should have had a year or so of that by now."

Sakura nodded her head at that. "Yes. We started with basic imaging, low-stress manipulation, and limited projection last year. Everyone was sufficiently far along that this year we're starting on simple jutsu theory, in preparation for learning the Academy's E-rank jutsu. As long as we continue practicing the chakra control exercises, we should be allowed to start learning our first jutsu next semester," she finished, her eyes bright and her smile much wider than usual. While normally quite soft-spoken, anything that touched on her academic learning quickly had her ready to talk your ears off.

Tenten nodded along at the explanation, then asked, "What about physical development? The chakra control exercises should be helping you with your physical conditioning — running faster, hitting harder, that sort of thing. But it doesn't seem like you're using that in our spars. Is your chakra control not good enough for that yet?"

"Oh, no no no! My control is pretty good," Sakura said, waving her hands in front of her to deny that she might be failing any classwork. "The teachers said so, and I've been practicing all I can. It's just.." Here, Sakura trailed off, seemingly unable to explain her problem.

After waiting for Sakura to continue for a few moments, Tenten moved over to her to give her a pat on the back. "Hey, no problem. It can be a bit tricky to get a handle on. Why don't you try using it a bit in our sparring? Might help you work out any problems you're having." Tenten smiled as Sakura nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Tenten stared at Sakura in mild disbelief, watching as she picked herself up off the ground. Tenten had honestly never considered it possible, but somehow Sakura had gotten <em>worse<em> when using her chakra to enhance her body. Much, much worse.

Sakura never really seemed to push herself too hard in the spars, but even so Tenten could see her speed improve as she applied her chakra. However, as soon as she did so, she seemed to completely lose control of her form. Her strikes were simple and straightforward, and could sometimes miss even if Tenten didn't bother to dodge. She tripped over her own feet any time she tried a kick. An overhand strike with a kunai had her planting her face in the ground.

Altogether, it was rather painful to watch.

Tenten shook her head, moving over to Sakura to help brush the grass off her dress. "Looks like you need to practice on your control a bit more," Tenten grinned at Sakura, without malice. "Like, I dunno, maybe you're not putting enough chakra in, and keeping it steady, all the time?" Tenten half-frowned at that. Chakra theory really wasn't her thing, but she didn't want to be mean about Sakura's mishaps. Well, the girl was smart, she'd probably figure it out soon enough.

Still, Sakura looked rather depressed about the whole thing. Tenten ruffled her hair a bit and gave her a half-hug. "Come on, why don't we take a break, and you can tell me about that new chakra exercise you came up with!"

Sakura's smile gradually returned, as she got the chance to show off her specialty to her sempai. Tenten was the only person who would sit down and listen — really _listen_ — to her when she got excited about her latest discovery or triumph. None of the other students in her class cared about studies, and no adults cared about what a 10-year-old girl could come up with. But Tenten did, and Tenten would listen, because Tenten knew what it meant to work hard, and knew what it meant to achieve something because of that hard work.

Sakura was already bubbling over in excitement, as her grin threatened to split her face.

* * *

><p>Tenten sighed as she and Sakura surveyed their little private training area (as they now thought of it). A massive storm had rolled through town a few days ago, knocking trees over, ripping out power lines, flooding the streets. After a bit of recovery, and when the students could finally go back to school, the two of them had found that the shattered tree limbs and collapsed trees had caused more problems than they'd anticipated.<p>

Essentially, the target training area was one huge mess of broken and rotting wood.

"Looks like more cleanup time," Tenten groaned. "And I thought we were done with that by now. Oh well. Ready to get to it?" She glanced over at Sakura, who nodded back, setting her backpack on the ground as they set out to clean the area up. Tenten might gripe about extra work, but that never stopped her from doing it, and Sakura wasn't going to put any less effort into helping out.

"Gah!" Tenten grunted as she dragged a cracked tree trunk to the side. Damn, these things were heavy! It was easy to forget just how dense and heavy wood was, and she had to strain herself quite a bit to move such a large object.

She paused to wipe her forehead with a shirt sleeve, keeping the sweat and dirt from dripping into her eyes, and glanced over to see how Sakura was faring. She expected the younger girl to be working through the smaller branches and rubble, since she had never been that strong.

And then she saw Sakura casually flick the remains of a branch nearly as large as her torso off to the side. Then a few small branches, followed by another that must have weighed a hundred kilos.

Tenten glanced over and saw a rather sizable mound of refuse piling up. Her gaze flickered back and forth, trying to make sense of something that should not have been possible.

"Tenten!" Sakura shouted over to her. "You about done on that side?"

Tenten jolted at being caught slacking off, then quickly grabbed her own tree trunk and started sliding it along again. "Yeah, getting there!" She'd have time to talk this over with Sakura later on.

* * *

><p>Sakura's eyes nervously followed Tenten as the older girl gradually circled her. Tenten had picked out some seemingly random bit of one of the collapsed trees and asked her to hold it for a bit. Her arms could barely fit around it, but Tenten had asked her to just hold it out in front of her, so it wasn't quite as awkward. Well, the tree wasn't awkward; Tenten's constant staring at her was.<p>

"You're using chakra body enhancement?"

Sakura nodded. Well, it should be obvious, after all. Holding something this big without chakra to enhance her strength would just be silly.

"Hmm."

Sakura sweat-dropped. Was she doing it wrong? She did a quick internal review, but her chakra was stable and steady, just as it should be, flowing through her body without any turbulence. The turbulence had been tricky to fix. She had been almost certain that that was what caused her so many problems when she was fighting, yet her spars against Tenten had never really improved.

Tenten stopped in front of her, fingers on her chin as she contemplated something. She then shook her head and turned to walk away. Sakura took a step forward. "Tenten! I—"

"Keep holding it up!" Tenten barked out. Sakura jerked back and brought the log back up in front of her, after almost having let it go as she tried to find out what was going on. She watched as Tenten started digging amongst the piles of tree limbs that had been stacked up.

"Tenten..." Sakura whined pitifully. It had been several minutes now, and her arms were feeling a little numb. She'd watched as Tenten dug out several more log stumps and shaved off some of the broken bits with a small blade. At her complaint, Tenten looked at her, then grabbed one of the chunks of wood and started heading towards her.

Was she going to change which one she needed to hold? She started to drop the one she'd been holding, but then at Tenten's disapproving stare brought it back up in front of her. It really was starting to get annoying.

And then Tenten dropped her own stump on top of the one Sakura was already holding.

Sakura's eyes bugged out. "What? Wait, why did—"

"Just hold onto it for a minute," Tenten called back as she returned to her stump collection.

And then returned with another stump. And a third. With the fourth, Sakura was seriously struggling to stay upright, and keep her hands from hitting the ground. She clenched her teeth and did her best, though, and after a few seconds stretched out to an eternity, Tenten finally patted her shoulder and said, "That's enough, I think." Sakura let the pile topple over as she collapsed onto the ground.

"What was that for?" Sakura yelled out, though it came out more as a raspy choke as she tried to regain her breath.

She heard nothing, until a thump on the ground made her look up. Tenten stood over her, holding up a downed sapling that was a few inches across and had been stripped of branches.

"Have you ever used a staff before?"

Sakura shook her head. The Academy only taught basic hand-to-hand and a few small weapons, though she'd seen dancers at the festival use them in elaborate ways.

"Well, try using this." Tenten emphasized 'this' by lifting the sapling and tamping it back into the ground. "Don't worry about anything fancy. Just swing it around a bit and try to hit me."

Sakura groaned and stood up. There were times she really questioned why she stuck around with the weapons-obsessed girl. "Yeah, I'm just gonna rip a tree out of the forest and start beating people over the head with it," she muttered under her breath.

Regardless, she grabbed the sapling and let Tenten back up a few steps. She lifted up her 'staff' and tried to figure out how she was supposed to hold it. She'd only seen Tenten practice with one a couple times, but tried to imitate that form as best she could remember.

Sakura stepped forward with an overhand swipe, which Tenten easily sidestepped. That was followed by a horizontal swing, which caused Tenten to hop back a step. A few more swings like that, and then she tried poking (or, wait, 'thrusting') with it. As she got a little more comfortable with it, Tenten stopped dodging as much, and started blocking with her short sword. Sakura was pretty sure Tenten could still have easily dodged, so clearly she was testing something.

More swings, swipes and thrusts, and Sakura started to have a bit more fun with it. Really, it was the first time she could remember having a spar with Tenten that actually felt somewhat like a real fight. Sakura's enjoyment was easily seen in the grin spreading across her face. Even if she wasn't 'good', at least she wasn't falling on her face!

Sakura's antics got more elaborate, spinning in pirouettes, rolling the staff across her back, and generally being quite showy. The staff danced in her hands, flicking back and forth with hardly any effort. Oh, her form sucked, and Tenten easily defended against her wild swings, and never actually attacked her, but she felt like she was doing more in this one fight than in any fight in the last two months she'd been friends with the sharp-tongued weaponmaster.

A brief memory flittered across her mind, and she switched up her hold on the staff, bringing it up above her head, and then slamming it into the ground. It was supposed to make a loud 'crack' when the staff impacted the floor, to startle or intimidate the enemy, she guessed. Unfortunately, while it did crack, it wasn't the crack she expected. When she lifted the staff back up, she found that the poor sapling had snapped in two.

Still, she grinned at Tenten as the other girl approached, also smiling.

"Well Sakura, I think we know what your specialty is now," Tenten said, as she gave the pink-haired girl a very sound hug. "Let's go talk to my dad."

* * *

><p>Author Notes<p>

So this story sprung from the idea of, what if Team 7 were more like what we see in Kishimoto's special/cover artwork, and less like the dysfunctional crew we see in the manga itself? I can't add a link here, but if you go to my profile page, and the thread that it links to, the first post of that thread links to the original post with the art in question.

After some pondering, I came up with an idea of how that might happen, and decided to try to put that to paper. Congratulations, my first ever publicly posted fanfic.

I put a lot of effort into getting inside the characters' heads, but much of what's shown is only what comes out on the surface. A lot of the underlying reasons may end up glossed over, or not even shown, but hopefully they'll still feel real to the reader. If you read the above-mentioned thread, there are more detailed backgrounds and various notes. I don't want to fill up the bottom of each chapter with author's notes describing why I made each given choice. 


	2. Splash

"They're gonna kill me. I am so dead. So dead. Ahhhhhh!" A constant wailing emanated from beneath the blanket of Naruto's bed. He was pretty sure the teachers knew who had pulled that prank last night, so he was just waiting for the inevitable doom to fall. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I *knew* I shouldn't have used that cherry bomb. I am sooo dead!"

* * *

><p>Between bragging and being egged on by Kiba over the last week, he'd finally succumbed to peer pressure and used his "Very Special, Use Only for the Ultimate Prank" cherry bomb collection, that he'd managed to scavenge from unused fireworks that had been tossed out after the grand festival the previous year.<p>

He almost didn't. It just didn't feel right to use his ultimate super-prank special on a mere toilet bombing. But there was no way he could let Kiba get away with calling him "chicken". He was the King Prankster! He was the best! Letting someone like Kiba get away with badmouthing him? He couldn't stand for it!

And so he had snuck in early in the morning and set things up. His best prank ever. He choose the east wing bathrooms to make it less obvious that he was the one who did it. Maybe add an extra cherry bomb to make sure they noticed it, though. He had to wait long enough for people to start trickling into school, but not so late that classes would have started.

And then — BOOM!

It was fantastic! It was like a multitude of little geysers — water exploded all the way up to the ceiling! It was so cool! It was... It was rather.. wet. The water wasn't stopping. There was at least an inch of water on the floor, and more pouring out of the plumbing.

It was going to get him in soooo much trouble.

Whereupon Naruto made the executive decision to skip school that day.

* * *

><p>After a day and a night of waiting for someone to come bust down his apartment door, fear of getting in trouble for skipping school finally outweighed fear of getting in trouble for the bathroom bombing.<p>

He slunk into the classroom, nervously looking around for any signs that the other students were just waiting to see exactly _how much_ trouble he was in, but found that it looked like just another school day. Ordinary. Nothing special at all.

Where was the outrage? Where was the mockery? Why wasn't _anyone paying attention to him when he was the—_

Slam!

Watanabe, the new sensei, strode into the room carrying a folder of papers and a tired look on his face. He scanned the room briefly before jotting down some info in a notebook. "Thank you all for actually showing up today," he drawled out. "It makes my life so much easier."

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle, but a smile was creeping across his face as it looked like he wasn't about to get hauled off for his latest prank.

"Now, for today's announcements: It seems that the plumbing in the east wing has been fixed. However, since there was a fair bit of water damage, the administration is requesting that any students who would like to volunteer to help with the cleanup would be most welcome."

Naruto's grin froze on his face, and he held stock still, hoping not to draw attention to himself.

"In the event that there aren't enough _volunteers_," Watanabe continued, "I will be happy to select a _purely random_ individual to assist the cleaning staff." His pointed stare at Naruto let the boy know exactly how random such a selection would be. Naruto grimaced and slowly raised his hand, knowing it would be worse if he waited.

* * *

><p>Naruto was bored.<p>

Bored. Bored. Bored. And hungry. Was it lunch time yet?

The sensei was droning on about something to do with the safe methods of storing explosive tags, but since none of the students were allowed to actually _use_ said tags, Naruto had long since tuned him out.

He hadn't managed to do anything exciting lately. Kiba congratulated him (in a ham-fisted kind of way) on the bathroom prank, but it hadn't felt as good as he'd hoped. Most of the rest of the class just gave him looks of disdain, rather than cheering him on for the amazing feat he'd pulled off. Took all the fun out of it.

He let his gaze wander around the classroom, picking out random people and watching them for a bit.

Chouji seemed to be paying attention, though he had a bag of chips on the desk in front of him that he'd pull from every so often. The teachers always left him alone as long as he didn't make a ton of noise crinkling the plastic bag.

Ino was over to the side, stretching her arms over her head and trying not to yawn. Seemed she thought the class was pretty boring, too. A quick glance over his shoulder showed the expected view of Shikamaru already napping as his desk.

Sasuke was over at his window seat, looking outside and not paying much attention.

And, finally allowing himself to look down to the front row of seats, Sakura was studiously writing down notes on whatever the teacher was saying.

A small smile crept onto his face, but was quickly erased as he looked around to make sure no one was watching him.

Naruto rather liked Sakura. She never made fun of him, never teased him, never mocked him, never looked at him like he was completely beneath notice. Ok, granted, she never really looked at anyone, usually keeping her nose in a book, and hardly spoke to anyone other than the teacher. But she still held that feeling of gentle _niceness_ that made Naruto feel good. The soft pink hair framing her face always looked absolutely _cute_.

He'd tried talking to her a couple times, but it was always rather awkward. She just looked at him (or at least his right shoulder) expectantly, and his mouth babbled out something incoherent, and then they just shuffled off in a mutual feeling of embarrassment.

However, lately...

"Hey! Kiba!" Naruto tried to whisper to the boy seated next to him. He gave him a small kick for good measure.

"Hey!" Kiba objected to the kick, then returned it. "What do you want?"

"Does it seem like... I dunno, like something's been different about Sakura lately?"

Kiba just gave him a look as if Naruto had asked if he thought purple underwear was likely to come back into fashion.

"Seriously!" Naruto pressed. "Like she's not as.. quiet, or something."

Kiba just shrugged and turned away to try to ignore Naruto. "Seems the same as always, to me. You seen her talking to anyone?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Naruto hedged. It was true; the pink-haired girl was as reclusive as ever. But still...

She just seemed.. 'brighter' was the only way Naruto could describe it. Like she wasn't trying to hide in the shadow of a rock, but was actually standing up in the sunlight. But he couldn't say that; not to Kiba.

There were other girls in class that often picked on the bookish girl, and usually she hunched down and gave way whenever she encountered them, even when just walking through class. Now, however, it seemed like she was standing up straighter, and not avoiding them so much as just ignoring them. A feeling of self-confidence that made her just that much cuter.

Naruto frowned at Kiba, and then decided that if he wanted answers, he'd have to investigate himself. Yes! Detective Uzumaki would solve the case!

* * *

><p>The Uzumakis were known for stealth, Naruto was sure. Only a clan of truly master sneaks could have given birth to the prodigy known as Naruto Uzumaki. And that stealth was currently being used to track down a criminal mastermind — a pink-haired genius who had let her disguise slip ever so briefly — but that slip was enough for the great Detective Uzumaki to leap onto the case!<p>

Hidden in shadows, disguised in brush, unnoticed behind benches and fountains, slipping silently between the trees — his quarry would never elude him, and would never notice until it was far too late!

Once school had let out, he'd carefully followed her as she slipped through the school grounds rather than leaving as most of the students did. Very suspicious. She even looked over her shoulder a couple times, clearly showing her guilt with such nervous behavior. But she wouldn't spot a master ninja of Naruto's caliber!

Eventually she met up with her enemy contact: a taller girl with brown hair tied up in buns. The brief hug was obviously a way to check each other for hidden weapons. They were professionals; he'd have to be careful.

Due to the open field, he had to take a more circuitous route to reach them, which forced him to lose sight of the pair a couple times. When he finally reached a good, close vantage point, he saw that they'd unveiled a stash of weapons — two massive swords, a metal-capped staff, an enormous hammer, and an axe that he could only name as such because of the shape; the size was just ridiculous.

When the smaller girl reached down to pick up one of the swords, he knew it was time to act. There was no time to delay any further!

"I've caught you now! I won't let you get away with your evil plot!" Naruto shouted as he revealed his presence, pointing at his classmate with an accusing finger. Sakura just stared wide-eyed at him, shielding herself with the massive blade in her hands. "I know that— Ow!" Naruto grasped his head in his hands to protect himself from the assault of the evil minion that had snuck up behind him.

Tenten just stared disapprovingly at him, hands resting on her hips, one still holding the scroll she'd used against his noggin.

"Minion of evil!" Naruto accused, though keeping his arms close for protection this time. It didn't help, as a smaller scroll bounced off his forehead before he could react. Tenten stepped forward to begin a rather extensive berating.

Sakura, behind Naruto, quietly mouthed the word, "Minion?" to herself. Blinked. Then started snickering. "Minion?"

Tenten glanced up, then narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "That better not be—"

"Silence, minion!" Sakura shouted out, before suddenly looking shocked at what she'd said. Struggling against the giggle fit that was creeping over her, she finally pulled herself together and, looking haughtily at Naruto, declared, "I see you've found me out. Such foolishness. You know that I cannot let you leave here alive, now?"

Naruto's eyes widened dramatically as Sakura spoke. This... This was... Incredible! She was... No, no time for that. He stood up straight, squaring off against the evil mastermind. "Do your worst! The great Naruto Uzumaki cannot be bested by a villain like you! My keen understanding has uncovered your nefarious plot!"

While Naruto felt himself to be in the midst of a great spy-vs-spy standoff, Sakura was reliving novels she'd read of an imperious queen scorning a braggart warrior. She opened her mouth to retaliate— and suddenly both felt heavy smacks across their heads.

"Owww.." a pair of voices whined from closer to the ground.

"I can't believe you two!" Tenten huffed. She held a fan of paper across her chest, that had once been one of her spare scrolls. "This is not some period drama spy... thing!" she gestured exasperatedly.

The two squatting below her looked up with pitiful, pouting eyes.

Tenten sighed deeply, then shook her head. "Whatever. I take it you know this guy, Sakura?" she asked her little apprentice.

Sakura suddenly found herself much more embarrassed, glancing nervously at Naruto before nodding. "Naruto Uzumaki," she supplied in a more subdued tone. "He's in my class."

"I see. Well, nice to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki. My name's Tenten"

Naruto just grinned nervously back. "Ahh, hi."

"If you two are finished, then we can go back to the weapon selection. Is that all right?" Tenten asked, with a definite hint that "no" was not the right answer.

Both of the other students nodded hurriedly, with Sakura scrambling back up and bringing the sword to bear. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that Sakura was actually _using_ a weapon like that. He carefully stepped back out of the way.

For the next several minutes, Tenten walked Sakura through the weapons she'd brought with her. She tried several swings and blocks, trying to find one that she'd be comfortable with.

In the end, Sakura hesitantly chose the axe. She seemed embarrassed by the choice, but at the same time hugged the huge slab of metal to her chest as if it were a precious stuffed animal. Somehow, it just _felt_ right.

"That is so cool!" Naruto's natural enthusiasm could not be dampened for long. "Can I try?"

Tenten raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and gestured at the remaining weapons. Naruto immediately leapt forward to test one out.

His inner mind was already bubbling happily over the idea that Sakura _understood_ — that the world wasn't all boring safety lectures and dead people and dates and math and other stupid school stuff, but it was about _adventure_ — defeating villains and saving princesses, and being damn impressive while you were at it.

Sakura sure had the 'impressive' part down, with that axe, so he had to show her that he could do just as well. He picked the larger and heavier of the two swords — a massive slab of metal taller than his sensei — as his weapon of choice. No villain could fail to be intimidated by a sword like that!

Operation: Impress Sakura was in motion.

Naruto grabbed the hilt and lifted. And grunted. Clearly the ground was slippery around here, and wasn't letting him get a good grip. He tried again with both hands, eyes widening as he felt just how heavy the blade was. He tried a few swings to prove he wasn't some wimp, but found he had to put in all his effort just to keep the momentum of the swing from throwing _him_ around.

Carefully putting it back down, he chuckled nervously as he said, "Heh, maybe not that one. It's too... ugly! Yeah. The other sword looks better."

The other sword in the collection was a huge, curved, saber-like blade, with an extremely long hilt. It was a lot easier to move around, but with the hilt being longer than Naruto's arm it quickly joined the other sword in the discard pile.

The remaining weapons passed in a similar fashion — a staff with a core of metal, a hammer that spun him around and left him dizzy, and even the axe that Sakura generously allowed him to try.

Through it all, the Evil Minion stood to the side and smirked at him. He'd definitely have to find a way to pay her back for mocking him.

"Well," Tenten said as she moved in to tidy things up. "Looks like these weapons aren't suited for you. Maybe we can try something else for you later, but today I did promise to help Sakura practice with whatever weapon she decided she liked." There were small poofs of smoke as the weapons were re-sealed in the storage scrolls.

"Ah, yeah, sure," Naruto grinned. After watching for a few minutes, he turned to leave, but before getting to far away he turned back and shouted at Sakura: "Know this, villain! You may have gotten away this time, but I'll stop your next scheme, for sure!" He quickly ducked away from the (practice) kunai that the Evil Minion threw as a parting shot, before running off, laughing.

Today had been a great day.

* * *

><p>Over the next several days, Naruto kept visiting the pair of girls. Tenten did small bits of training with him — at least when she didn't fall back into Evil Minion mode and try to kill him. Naruto continued to try to come up with ways to impress Sakura, which caused some giggles, but never the feeling that he'd actually succeeded.<p>

"Ha!" he cried out as he completed the amazingly stylish spin and flip, having finished demonstrating his stupendous skill with throwing stars. "That's how you do it!" he crowed, turning to the adoration he was certain he was due.

Sakura peaked out carefully from behind the axe she'd used as a shield during the demonstration. Tenten was in some sort of contortionist's pose, with a pair of short blades in her hands. Sakura looked scared. Tenten looked angry. Very Angry.

* * *

><p>The next day, when Naruto limped into class with most of his body wrapped in bandages, Kiba provided the obligatory slap on the back.<p>

* * *

><p>When Naruto felt safe enough to venture back to the training ground a couple days later, he found the two girls in conversation rather than training. He waved, and saw Sakura look up as she saw him.<p>

"Hey, Tenten," her voice sang out. "Your boyfriend's back!"

Tenten blinked, glanced over at Naruto, then turned back to stare at Sakura with a look of absolute betrayal on her face. "Wha—?"

Sakura just stared back with an innocent smile.

Tenten scowled, though it then turned into an apologetic look as she placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I realize you're juggling so many boys that hiding them from each other is difficult, but I just can't cover for you this time. The last three of them just took too much out of me."

As Sakura's ears turned beet red, Naruto looked back and forth between the two, uncomfortably aware that if he laughed at the joke, he'd probably get maimed.

"How are you doing today, Naruto?" Tenten asked sweetly, spinning around to face him. Without waiting for him to answer, she returned to her more usual, professional tone. "I was just letting Sakura know that the loan time on the weapons was just about up."

"Loan time?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Yeah. My dad was able to borrow those weapons from a few other blacksmiths he knows, as a favor for me, but time's about up and he'll have to send them back soon. I just wanted to see if Sakura wanted to buy the axe for herself. It'd be a shame to give it up now, and making a newly commissioned one will be rather difficult. And expensive," she added.

Sakura had calmed down, but at Tenten's words, had frowned sadly. "I don't really have the money for something that big, myself," she said somewhat quietly.

"Come on, Sakura!" Naruto yelled out, jumping forward to grab her shoulders. "That axe is, like, you! You gotta get it! Sakura isn't Sakura without it." It had actually become rather strange looking at Sakura in class, lately; without the axe, it was almost like she was missing an arm or something. Despite how short a time she'd been using it, it felt completely alien to think of her without it, now.

"You could ask your parents," Tenten added in. "And I'm sure my dad can get you a good deal."

Sakura shook her head. "My parents wouldn't... They don't really like.." She couldn't quite seem to finish her sentences.

Naruto stepped back, frowned, and then crossed his arms. "You still gotta try. An evil mastermind wouldn't get thwarted by something so trivial!"

Sakura finally smiled at that.

"Plus, I can't wait to see everyone's faces when you finally bring it to class. They're gonna be soooo jealous!"

Sakura's eyes widened, and she held up her hands to protest again.

"You know," Tenten butted in again, "personal weapons that are part of a person's unique style are allowed in class. It'd be perfectly legit to bring it to school." She grinned as she saw Sakura's acceptance of their arguments finally fall into place. The excited look on her face was infectious.

* * *

><p>Slam!<p>

Watanabe-sensei trudged up to the podium for the daily roll-call and morning announcements. The water heater in his apartment was busted, and the office's coffee maker was broken again; he cursed maintenance to death-by-Kyuubi. Thus it took him a few minutes, halfway into the announcement of next week's field trip, before he noticed the strangely empty semi-circle surrounding one of the front row seats.

Focusing, he spotted the always-punctual Haruno girl, listening attentively and smiling as usual. His eyes flickered back and forth to the students on either side.

"Is there some issue with the seating today?" he asked with idle curiosity. No one was forthcoming with an answer.

Oh well. On to roll call.

When he reached the pink-haired girl, she stood up and flipped a... giant axe? up to rest on her shoulder. "Evil Overlord, Sakura Haruno. Present, sir."

A raised eyebrow. "Evil overlord?"

"Don't worry, sir!" a hyperactive blond shouted from a few rows above. "The Great Detective Uzumaki will always be there to thwart her evil schemes!"

An impending headache. Watanabe did not need this on a morning without coffee.

Staring pointedly at the axe she held, he stated, "Only standard-issue weapons are allowed in class. You'll need to put that away."

Rather than complying, however, she took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, sir. Except for weapons that are intrinsically part of a student's family or clan combat style. My parents have signed a notice" — here she pushed forward a small paper — "stating that this is for use for the official family style." No need to mention that she was the only person in her family with any unique combat style, since clearly that meant that her personal style _was_ the family combat style.

Crossing his arms, he said, with a small hint of amusement, "Well then. Would you like to _demonstrate_ this family combat style for us? I'd be most interested." He wondered how long she was going to try to keep this up. Either the axe was fake, or the style was fake, or...

Yipe!

He stepped back quickly, as Sakura was quick to jump into demonstrating the kata that Tenten had built for her over the last week. And now he knew why there was such a wide circle around her seat. Still, the axe itself...

Crack!

The speaking podium was shorn in two, horizontally, as Sakura passed by with barely a pause. A swing that dropped the back of the axe head into the ground left a notable impact crater. The wind whistled as the axe head cut through the air. And through it all, the girl danced as if she carried nothing at all.

"Halt!" he called out. When she did so, he held out his hand for the axe, which was reluctantly handed over. He frowned at the weight; it had to weigh nearly as much as she did. Heading over to check on the note Sakura had indicated earlier, he sighed when seeing her parents' signatures.

"I'll have to verify this with the school administration, but for now you may keep your weapon," he said, finally returning the axe to the girl, who seemed inordinately delighted. A cry of "Yeah, Sakura!" from behind him let him know that he'd almost certainly regret this.

Glancing at the toppled top-half of the podium and the hole in the floor, at least he could take comfort in knowing that maintenance wasn't going to have a good day either.

* * *

><p>Naruto moped. He wouldn't admit to moping, but still... Emo-ness abounded.<p>

Sakura had gotten her amazing axe, and was even allowed to bring it to school now. She loved playing the part of the Evil Overlord; she carried it with such confidence, you'd almost forget how shy and withdrawn she'd been just a few months ago.

However Naruto had still completely failed in Operation: Impress Sakura. Everything he'd tried had been a flop or an embarrassment. The weapons, the throwing.. heck, he'd even tried studying! She always seemed to giggle and smile at his antics, but never actually be impressed.

How was he supposed to impress someone like her? She was, like, super-strong! And super-smart! And really good at chakra, and improving at using weapons (which he had also considered, until realizing he'd always be in Tenten's shadow in that field), and... gah!

There had to be something! The Great Detective Uzumaki would not be foiled by this mystery!

A cook? Sneaky and stealthy, someone that you'd never suspect of being a deadly assassin? No, he didn't really like cooking. Maybe go around the world collecting amazing weapons? Nah, that'd be more for Tenten; Sakura liked her axe. Even if it annoyed her sometimes to always have to carry it around.

She'd actually talked to Tenten about that the other day. There'd been a long discussion about the advantages and problems of storage seals and stuff, but he'd mostly tuned it out. Sealing stuff was always so complicated. Tenten had all those scrolls that were completely filled with storage seals for all the weapons she used, though she said that was like the most basic of basics for fuinjutsu.

He wondered why Sakura never really got into it? Heh, wouldn't she be impressed if he showed up with all.. these... amazing...

Naruto's eyes widened as realization struck like a ten-penny nail. He stood stock still in the hallway for a full minute before rushing out of the school. They'd have to get through the remainder of the day without him, for the Great Detective Uzumaki had just solved his greatest case!

From this day forth, the Master of the Mystic Arts, Naruto Uzumaki, would be a name known in legends as the greatest fuinjutsu master to have ever lived!


	3. Drumbeat

The Sharingan is the power of the Uchiha clan, and the power of the clan is the power of the Uchiha, and of the village. Without the Sharingan, there is nothing, and it was the only heritage an Uchiha would ever need.

* * *

><p>Sasuke gazed out the window, trying to ignore the rowdy discussions around him as other students filed into the classroom.<p>

"Seriously?" someone asked incredulously. "You let your _sister_ get away with doing that crap to your stuff? Kick her out of your room, show her who's boss!"

Sasuke's fist clenched briefly, before he forceably relaxed it again. Stupid fools, blithely unaware of what was more precious than a few books or toys, that could disappear from their lives before they even realized what happened.

It had been several years already, but even now memories brought back a crawling fear that mere hate and anger couldn't overcome.

A stern and harsh father, always watching, demanding that he always strive to be the best. A precise and meticulous mother, who never put up with his tantrums, yet always ensured he never lacked for anything. A pair of siblings — brother and sister — from down the street that he used to play kickball with; their mutual teasing and laughter made them a natural magnet for the other children in the clan compound. Many shinobi and police, always towering over him in the streets, always proof of what was possible, for all of them.

And his brother. His brother, who was everything he wanted to be. His brother, in pristine robes, surrounded by blood, blood, so much blood, draining away, empty eyes, he would never see them again, not his father's harsh rebuke, his mother's fussy handling, the bright-eyed laughter of a sister who loved her brother just as he—

Slam!

He jerked in his seat as the instructor entered the room. Deep breaths helped calm his nerves, and he was able to gruffly acknowledge when his name was called.

The fools around him were worthless, never considering that the family they so casually sneered at or mocked, that they'd be happy to see drop dead, might in fact do just that someday.

Disgust. Not anger or hatred; it was hard to keep those fires burning when the object of that hate was so far gone. But disgust was a sufficient substitute to keep the fear at bay.

"I'm back!" a voice called out from the door, almost immediately followed by the sound of chalk impacting someone's forehead. "Hey!"

"You're late," Watanabe said evenly, making another note on the roster sheet. "And you have make-up work for missing classes yesterday," he continued, tapping a folder.

Naruto grumbled, and then started making his way towards his seat, seeming to have more trouble than usual getting past people. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he saw what was causing the extra fuss — a massive scroll strapped onto Naruto's back that was swaying back and forth as he edged past people, occasionally hitting someone in the arm or head. A wave of protests and annoyed shouts followed in his wake.

"Naruto," Watanabe's voice strained out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What, exactly, is that?"

Naruto stopped and beamed as he held up the package. "It's a scroll! For seals!" Jabbing a thumb at his chest, he proudly proclaimed, "Master of the Mystic Arts, Naruto Uzumaki, is taking up the ancestral mantle of fuinjutsu legend, just as his forefathers always dreamed. They'd be so proud of him!"

"Mystic arts?"

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person, Naruto?"

"Wait, I thought your family were stealth masters?"

"Wasn't he supposed to be a detective?"

A continuous stream of comments bubbled up around the classroom until Watanabe slammed his hand into the (newly repaired) podium. "Naruto," he sighed, "you can't bring that to school."

"I totally can!" Naruto yelled back. He gestured over towards where Sakura sat, her battleaxe at her side. "If it's part of a family's special techniques and stuff, I can use it at school!"

"I do hate to remind you of this, Naruto, but you're an orphan. You don't have any special family techniques. You are not a fuinjutsu specialist. And you may not bring that... _thing_ to school."

Sasuke frowned at that, irritated both by Naruto's posturing, but also by the teacher's implication that merely being an orphan meant you had no family techniques.

"I am so a fuinjutsu specialist!" Naruto shot back. "The Uzumakis have a long history of being masters of fuinjutsu!"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the latest proclamation. He wondered if he should have started a scorecard on all the great 'Uzumaki' clan specialties?

"That may be so," Watanabe allowed, "but just because you bear the name, that doesn't make you an heir to their techniques."

Naruto blinked (as did many others, as the comment registered). "What?"

Watanabe frowned in confusion. "I said, you don't get to pretend to be a seal master just because you happen to have the Uzumaki name."

"Wait, you mean I really am a seal master?"

"I just said—"

"I mean, the Uzumakis really were good at this stuff?" Naruto interrupted, a hopeful look on his face.

"I... suppose you could say that, yes, but—"

"Whoohooo!" Naruto jumped up and down excitedly, then hugged his scroll as he spun around, before coming to a stop with the scroll held in one arm and the other pointed at his teacher. "Master of the Mystic Arts, Naruto Uzumaki, claims the right to bring the tools of his family specialty to school!"

Watanabe stared at him.

Naruto stared back, determination in his gaze.

Watanabe returned his gaze in mild disbelief, though his eyebrows narrowed as he considered something.

Sakura looked up at him with surprised eyes.

Sasuke scowled.

Kiba tried to push the scroll, and Naruto, away from his seat.

Watanabe hmm'd.

Naruto set his jaw, determined to see this through by sheer stubbornness.

"As I understand it," Watanabe suddenly spoke into the silent classroom, "fuinjutsu requires mastery of a great many scholastic fields. Mathematics, languages, chakra theory, dimension theory, and a few other, more esoteric, disciplines. For someone to claim a specialty in that field, and at such a young age..."

Naruto's eyes widened in dawning comprehension.

"Well," the older man continued, a predatory smile starting to cross his face, "I could hardly call myself a teacher if I stood in the way of such a drive for accomplishment. And burdened with carrying the heritage of his entire family's history and pride as a clan! I am sorry, Naruto," he said, bowing his head slightly in apology, "I was mistaken. I'll notify the administration right away. Please, keep your scroll. I know that you'll _do your family proud_." The closing statement was said with such menace that Naruto stumbled backwards into his chair.

He laughed nervously while holding the giant scroll in front of him as if to shield himself from the future he saw barreling towards him.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat at an isolated bench, shaded by a nearby tree, eating lunch and contemplating the morning events.<p>

Family. It seemed to come up time and time again. Many failed to appreciate what they had, but a few seemed to grab hold of any hint of it — usually those who had no family to call their own. Of the few orphans in class, Naruto was the only one who seemed to have found something of that broken past to hang onto.

Perhaps he should do so as well. Despite listless days of wanting to do nothing but curl up in a corner and wish the world away, he had to get stronger if he was ever to avenge his family — to make that one pay, in some small way, for the lives he had taken. And how better than to uphold the traditions of his clan? Those talents and skills that made them great?

Sasuke shook his head. Unfortunately, _his_ great family tradition and technique wasn't a physical weapon, it was his eyes — and he already brought those to school with him every day, anyway.

He was well known as an Uchiha, but somehow it felt empty, incomplete. The Sharingan was powerful, but he couldn't use it, couldn't show off that he, too, was upholding and carrying the talents of his family's history. It would be nice to have something he could actually hold in his hand, as a remembrance of what once was.

The remainder of his lunch was slow and thoughtful.

* * *

><p>Once again, days passed slowly, with Sasuke maintaining his role as the self-designated unofficial classroom observer. Only by staying on the outside could you really see what was going on.<p>

Naruto's panic once he realized what he'd gotten himself into was amusing, but surprisingly he didn't decide to unveil yet another new family history, and give up the scroll. He did stop calling Sakura the Evil Overlord, though; instead, she became the Red Queen, which she seemed rather pleased with. Sasuke suspected Naruto was bribed into it in order to get her aid with all his new homework.

Despite his latest fake family changeup — or perhaps just because they were used to it — most of the boys that he tended to hang out with treated him the same as ever — laughed at, laughed with, treated as a fellow groupie, treated as a patsy and scapegoat. It depended on the day and the mood.

The girls never paid much attention to him, aside from Sakura, who had herself stirred up quite a hornet's nest. She was still an outcast from most of the cliques, who did their best to continue to put her down, but the demeaning nickname that they had taken to calling her — 'Battleaxe' — seemed to instead be something Sakura was actually proud of. Strange girl.

The other strange girl in the class was Ino Yamanaka. One of the fashionable elite, she still always seemed to have an oddly longing pout that flickered across her face whenever she looked at Sakura.

Meh. Girls.

He tapped his pencil idly against his desk as his gaze returned to the window. Unchanging days flit past one by one, and he was stuck here barely crawling forward. He trained and he studied, practiced and sparred, yet always remained inadequate, so far below _him_, with his pale face, and blood red eyes, and blood, and blood, and the stink, and..

His fist slammed against his desk, shocking his mind out of its downward spiral while also shocking the other students around him. The worthless maggots gaped at him like goldfish, brainless and dumb, his brain supplied, locking the fear away again behind the disgust.

He had to find something, some way of escaping this hole of mediocrity he was trapped in, something to carry him soaring to the heights of greatness. He knew he was capable of it; he just needed to find the right door, the right key.

His family library. He knew that technically they weren't supposed to start learning jutsu on their own yet (though it wasn't far off), but with his natural chakra control and skill, he felt he could start practicing one of the basic clan jutsus. He didn't need to show it off, he just needed to start pushing himself forward.

* * *

><p>It clinked. It clanked. It clawed at his spine. It made him want to chew his own arms off. It did everything imaginable <em>except<em> its actual purpose — create music.

The new semester had begun, with new classes, new studies, and — finally — new jutsu. He hadn't had much success with the simple katon jutsu he'd found at home — the best he had managed was to once burn his own fingers — but he still felt the practice had put him another step ahead of those around him.

Naruto spent half his time looking like you'd just killed his puppy, as the teachers took a sadistic glee in assigning him all sorts of additional homework, to 'help' him revive his family's legacy; he was practically crying on Sakura's shoulder, asking for help. Of course the other half of the time he was right back to his obnoxiously bouncy personality, laughing about anything and everything, or maybe nothing at all.

Sasuke still had to give him credit for at least sticking to it. For now, anyway; would see how long it lasted.

Sakura was joyfully adding her own brand of insanity to the new semester. From what he could gather, there had been some sort of bet regarding the 'old' Uzumaki specialty of stealth. At the moment, Sakura was winning, and Watanabe had taken to doubling down on his daily coffee dose.

At the very least, she wasn't part of the increasing trend of girls giving him funny looks. He mostly ignored them, and hoped whatever it was would just blow over soon.

But all of that was merely the prelude to today, one week into the new classes. The girls in the class were being given special kunoichi training class, though there was some flexibility on which topics they could choose.

Sakura chose courtly music.

The teacher foolishly gave her students instruments to practice with, "When they had time."

The shamisen's ethereal and atonal beauty would be forever marred by the catastrophe that was Sakura playing an instrument.

Sasuke dropped his lunch on the bench and tried to cover his ears, but the sound pierced through any attempts to thwart its desire to destroy his brain. Finally he jumped up, searching for the perpetrator of this travesty as his fingers scraped through his hair.

There! By the fountain, surrounded by an (unsurprisingly) empty courtyard. It had to stop. Now.

"Sakura!"

Sakura blinked owlishly, shaken from her focus. "Sasuke?" She looked curiously at him. He'd never actually tried to speak with her before. How unusual.

Sasuke merely held his hand out.

It was for her own good. It was for _his_ own good. It was for the good of the entire class. If they had to listen to that tortuous sound every day while this tone-deaf rock-beater mauled a perfectly serviceable instrument... He pitied the court that might ever have to endure her being courtesan.

Sakura took a few moments, looking at Sasuke, his hand, and what he might possibly be asking for, before hesitantly handing him the shamisen.

For all her intelligence and skill at manipulating chakra, she seemed to have no talent at translating that into simple musical rhythm, or restraint when plucking the strings. Perhaps she'd spent too much time swinging that giant axe around, and now she couldn't be gentle when dealing with more delicate objects.

"Sakura," he said between gritted teeth, "please do not _ever_ play this instrument again."

Sakura looked shocked, and immediately protested. "But I'm—"

"Never."

"I've got—"

"Never."

Sakura opened her mouth again, before clapping it shut, crossing her arms, and pouting. "I'm not _that_ bad."

Sasuke stared pointedly at her.

Sakura squirmed uncomfortably. "And besides, I just started," she muttered, though it was clearly a token protest.

"An instrument such as this needs care and delicacy to play well," Sasuke pointed out. "Until you can get over treating it like your axe, please avoid tormenting your fellow students."

"Nobody else complained!"

Sasuke merely gestured around them at the empty courtyard. Usually this area was fairly popular with students eating lunch, or finishing up some random homework assignment, but was now devoid of anyone within hearing range.

"Oh, like you could do better," Sakura grumbled.

"_Anyone_ could do better," Sasuke replied. Seeing the look of disbelief on her face, he felt oddly compelled to prove the point to her. How _anyone_ could be that bad was beyond him, but to violate this poor instrument...

Sasuke scowled and sat down beside her, taking the plectrum from her hand. A strange rush of vertigo almost made him lose his balance, but he held still until it passed. He stared at the stringed instrument, feeling its weight, remembering... remembering what?

A faint hint of the sound of the strings being plucked, growing in clarity. His mother sitting beside him at a restaurant table. His father, discussing some important clan topic with another individual he couldn't name. Other people in the background that were mostly foggy grey faces, but occasionally one would flick into focus, even if he couldn't remember a name to go with it.

But through it all, a young lady — one of a trio, he thought, but her face was clearest — played as the entertainment to the formal dinner. He was fascinated by the sound, the ethereal beauty of the piece; by the simple rhythmic movements that turned random motion into music.

It had been quite a while since he had thought of that day. Memories of what his family used to do together were often deeply buried. He couldn't remember the exact music the lady had played, but he could remember the _feel_ — the emotions it inspired in a fascinated 5-year-old child.

Slowly, with care, he plucked and struck the strings, mapping the ideas from his memory to the sounds he could hear. As he gained confidence, his other hand manipulated the strings to change the tone. There was a pattern he found himself repeating, though it wasn't actual music yet. It wasn't fancy, and certainly not up to the standards of the woman he remembered, but he found himself able to strum out a simple melody that gradually became more elaborate, closer to what it _should_ be with each repetition.

As he paused to let his hand rest, he suddenly recalled why he was doing this in the first place, head whipping around, already preparing a defensive retort against any snide comments. Instead he realized that his little performance had drawn a number of the students back into the courtyard, all watching him with strangely impressed looks. How long had he been distracted in his playing?

When they realized that he'd finished, a small spattering of applause made the rounds, with colorful comments and questions about how long it had taken him to learn to play like that.

Sasuke frowned at that. "I haven't— It's just the way that it _should_ be played, that's all. I don't take lessons for this; I'm training to be a _ninja_."

Several seemed to be impressed by that, whispering to each other, but he just huffed at that. Impressing these foolish idiots was hardly a notable feat. Though, oddly, there wasn't much heat in that thought. His mind kept wanting to wander back to the family dinner in his memory. And, perhaps, just a faint hint of pride lingered in his heart.

* * *

><p>Sasuke returned the instrument to the kunoichi's instructor, and (thankfully) soon learned that Sakura had requested a change in elective. He didn't care what her new art was, as long as it didn't involve making any sound.<p>

However, the incident wasn't quite over, yet.

"Heyyyy, Sasuke! I heard you were giving a jam performance out in the courtyard yesterday!" Kiba called out to him as he entered the morning classroom, bravado glossing over unfamiliarity with the 'fashionable' terms.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and just replied, "What of it?"

"That's so cool!" the other boy enthused, as he dropped his jacket on his chair before heading over towards Sasuke's seat. "Can you show me?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, then very obviously looked around him, noting the complete lack of musical instruments, before returning his gaze to Kiba.

"Ah, heh," Kiba tried to brush it off. "I mean..." he scratched his head as he looked around the classroom briefly. "Like, if I brought something, could you play it? I heard you were really good at it."

"I'm not trained in 'random musical showmanship'," Sasuke growled out. "I'm training to be a _ninja_."

"Well, yeah, I mean we all are, right? But when you're good, you're good!" Kiba preened a bit, clearly showing what he thought of his own talents. "Why not show off a bit?"

"Whatever," Sasuke sighed. If it would make the other boy go away...

"Cool! I'll find something totally awesome for ya!" Kiba gave a thumbs-up before heading back towards where a small crowd was gathering, obviously letting them know the good news.

Sasuke sank his face into his hands. This was going to be such a stupid embarrassment.

* * *

><p>Kiba waited until lunch the following day to present his find. A shakuhachi — a vertical bamboo flute.<p>

"My sister let me borrow this," he explained. "I'm not sure where she got it; don't think I've ever seen her play it. But she said it was ok if I borrowed it, so..."

He handed the flute over to Sasuke, who fingered it uncertainly. This looked like one of those flutes that traveling monks used. He had seen one played by a monk at a temple ceremony his father had once had him attend. Mostly what he remembered from that time was being forced to stand perfectly straight, never talk, and never do anything that would embarrass his father.

It took him a bit to get the hang of blowing into the flute properly, and then more to understand the notes it could create. However he soon managed a stiff and brittle tune — something well suited for pomp and ceremony, sadly.

"I'm sorry," he said to Kiba, handing the flute back. "I can't seem to do very well with that." Those eating lunch nearby finally turned away at that, going back to their own conversations.

"Are you kidding? Are you sure you've never played one before? I tried using it last night, and could barely get it to make a proper sound. To just pick it up and play like that is just, wow!"

Sasuke just shrugged and went back to his lunch. The praise was nice, but sometimes it went a bit overboard.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the thing being presented to him. The requests kept getting more and more eclectic. Before him he saw a towering pile of bamboo reeds attached to a... thing that held them together, then lead to a mouthpiece. The sho — a mouth organ — looked like an overengineered monstrosity.<p>

He'd never even seen one before, and had no idea how to even begin to try to play it. Having no interest in playing the fool, he gave a scathing look of dismissal before turning away, facing back out the window.

* * *

><p>"Come on comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeon!" Naruto chattered non-stop as he dragged Sasuke towards the doorway. "I got it outside!" When they finally reached a small nook on the side of the building, he stared at a rather impressive set of taiko drums, arrayed in a semi-circle.<p>

"Where the hell did you get these, Naruto? And how the hell did you get them _here_?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

Naruto hemmed and hawed, and seemed to glance briefly at Sakura, but managed to avoid answering directly. Sakura, meanwhile, innocently inspected her axe for wear and tear.

Sasuke just shook his head and started to turn away, but Naruto grabbed his arm again, pleading, "Pleeeeease? They are so cool! They played them at the spring festival. You must have heard them, right? It was all boomBoomBOOM!" Naruto mimed beating the drums, bouncing around in his enthusiasm.

"You'd need more than one person to play all these drums, Naruto," Sasuke retorted. "And any other random person—" he winced as his arm gestured out to the nearest person — Sakura — but continued, "It's not like we've practiced or anything. It would be ludicrous to try."

Naruto put on his best pleading face, and Sasuke felt more torn as he realized more students had trickled out behind them, attracted by the idea of another interesting performance.

Even if he'd never played the drums before, he couldn't imagine it being to terribly difficult; you just had to maintain a beat for a while. It wasn't like there was any other music to match up to, here. But coordinating with another person...

He couldn't help but notice that Sakura was practically quivering in excitement, holding herself back from volunteering, but desperately hoping to be picked. He had to wonder who, between her and Naruto, had actually been the one to suggest this particular instrument. Still, he turned away and glanced at the gathering crowd. He didn't need a repeat of the shamisen incident.

"I'll help!" Kiba barked out, pushing forward. "I can keep a beat, no prob!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, then gestured to one of the side drums. Kiba leapt towards them, then demonstrated that his claim was not too far off the mark. It would do.

He lightly tapped one of the drums in the middle, feeling its sound. "Just hold off until I've gotten used to it." Kiba nodded eagerly.

"Hey, hey! What about the big one?" Naruto continued to get in his face. "You can't have festival drums without the big one!" He glanced briefly behind himself, then tried to correct it by looking elsewhere.

Sasuke gave a slight groan. How obvious could they get? His eyes slid slightly towards his pink-haired classmate, before finally resigning himself. "Sakura, would you—"

"Yes!" Sakura squealed out before jumping forward to grab the large drum bashi, immediately positioning herself next to the drum and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Wait until I give you the sign," he told her forcefully. He considered, then added, "Three strikes, then pause. Pace it on my signal."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically.

Sasuke planted his feet and took a deep breath, imagining the festival air, the rush of excitement, the press of crowds. Raising the sticks in the air, he struck. Da-da-Boom! He started up a steady beat, and after a couple measures to get a feel for how to strike to get the strength of tone he wanted, nodded to Kiba, who started a rapid staccato rhythm on a smaller drum.

He had to reach out his hand to hold Kiba back a couple times, to get him in sync with the pace he was setting, but eventually it seemed to settle into a steady pace. Naruto danced madly behind them, with no care for how silly he looked, or how well it matched what was played. The heartbeat of the festival drove them on, the earthy intensity expressed in the constant pounding of the drum. No complications, no fancy gimmicks (though a flute to act as counterpoint would have been nice), but the simple, steady rhythm was something that the Inuzuka understood well.

When he finally felt he was ready, he nodded to Sakura, who stood poised over the largest drum. He winced internally at the eager look on her face, and braced for the worst.

The deep boom that echoed out was slower than the main rhythm — a few strikes, and then a pause, then repeat. It was difficult, as he didn't have an easy way to adjust her pattern as he did with Kiba, but Sakura's tone-deafness wasn't a hindrance here; she just had to stay in sync with the other two.

It was different from the usual playing he did. With other instruments, he could experiment a little, trying find the exact notes and pace he wanted to set, even within the very limited bounds of his skill. With the drums, however, it was like he'd gained extra hands that didn't do as they were told. There was no room for extra expression; he just maintained a steady, monotonous beat. Yet there was enough variance that it wasn't exactly bad. It was actually somewhat enjoyable. He could practically smell the soba sizzling on the grill, the candied apples, the million and one things that made a festival that attraction that drew people year after year.

And then Iruka-sensei stormed around the corner.

* * *

><p>Shino stood stiffly in front of him, taking a while before speaking.<p>

"A bamboo grove grows near our house."

Sasuke simply nodded, wondering of the importance of such a fact.

"One of the exercises we perform in order to acclimate to handling and controlling our kikaichu is to have them eat through bamboo poles of specific size and shape."

Sasuke still didn't see where this was going.

"After your recent performances, I found myself... curious. Thus, I spent time over the last week practicing a specific pattern."

Ah, perhaps he'll finally get to the point.

"I do not believe myself to be highly skilled, but by the end of last night I felt that what I had achieved was... adequate." With that, he pulled something out from inside his coat and handed it to Sasuke.

A bamboo flute.

"It is a small thing, but I hope that you may find it useful. I would be most honored if you would play it."

* * *

><p>With each instrument he used, the next seem to become easier. The patterns of the notes became more understandable. What sorts of harmonies blended with the melody. Flexibility, strength and speed of the fingers. And a calm peace as he let the music move through him, carry him, rather than fight to draw it out from the reluctant recesses of his mind.<p>

The Aburame's hand-made flute nestled easily within his hand. As he contemplated it, another memory — a flute on a display stand near a pair of highly-polished katana. As a child, the swords were far more fascinating; when he even noticed the flute at all, it was only to wonder why someone would bother to show off such a boring thing in the first place.

He raised the flute to his lips, and began making his way through the notes. Though they were clear, the tones were ever-so-slightly off, yet still carried a strange warmth. A sonata not of perfection, but of humanity.

Low and gentle, the sound floated on a haunting melody. Sasuke closed his eyes, allowing the flute to carry his mind through memories of the past. [1]

Standing on the walkway, looking out from beneath the eaves as a soft summer rain fell. Droplets pattering on the small streams they had carved into the ground. A mist hanging in the air, masking the forest in the distance. Waiting and longing, loss and loneliness — loved ones who will never return. Mourning, yet knowing that even that must end.

As the sound faded, the memory of his mother's flute resting on the mantle beneath her prized swords faded into the greener tone of the flute he held. He wearily opened his eyes in idle curiosity.

At least four of the girls were completely in tears, and as his gaze fell on them they dashed from the room. Even Kiba was coughing into his sleeve while trying to wipe his eyes without attracting notice. Several others just stood there in a daze.

A soft whisper caught his attention. "Genjutsu," Sakura breathed.

Sasuke's eyes drifted back down to the flute he still held, but rather than pride or annoyance, what he felt was relief, as if he'd finally rid himself of a pain he didn't know he carried. As if the music let him remember what was important about what he lost, rather than the loss itself.

* * *

><p>The Sharingan is the power of the Uchiha, but perhaps... perhaps it is not the only family heritage an Uchiha can claim.<p>

* * *

><p>[1] Not perfect, as it includes piano accompaniment, but what I imagine Sasuke's flute performance sounded like:<br>YouTube ID: -5qhNRmMilI


	4. Ripple

Ino loved being the center of attention: people acknowledging her as pretty, popular, worthwhile. She spent a great deal of time ensuring that those positive traits were always foremost in people's thoughts when they remembered her. She was, in her own mind, the princess of the ball, the envied beauty who, nevertheless, all bowed before.

When younger, her imagination prowled the paths of defeating evil overlords and overthrowing their wicked armies. As she got older and spent much of her time training in the specialties of her clan, she became the vizier overlooking the sultan's shoulder, rooting out rebellions and thwarting assassinations (or doing the job herself if the sultan had become corrupt). She was the one who decided a man's destiny.

In her less imaginative life as an Academy student, she had no great rivals, no evil villains to fight. Instead, she played the more passive game of holding court — tracking fashions, exchanging beauty tips, complementing and insulting in subtle and imaginative ways. It was a far less violent battle, but it was a battle nonetheless.

But always, always, she was the one in control. She was the one that other people came to for help. The only two in her classes who surpassed her skills were the Hyuuga girl (at taijutsu) and the Haruno girl (at academics), however both of those were reclusive, asocial individuals. If you needed help with homework, you came to Ino. If you needed a sparring partner, you came to Ino. If you needed to know the latest gossip, you came to Ino.

She reigned supreme in her court of peers.

Yet even a ruler could get lonely. Even a queen needed someone they could trust with their closest secrets. Even a domina needed a friend. However in her court, such a person could not exist. It wasn't the type of friend a boy could be, and none of the girls, in their fashionable circles, could be trusted to that degree.

In her more melancholic moods she watched the boys and girls of her class pass their days in idle chatter and banter, rarely holding any weight on their shoulders. A couple, though, who drifted outside Ino's own circles, always drew her eyes.

Hinata, she understood. Being who she was, it was easy to see the crushing weight heaped upon her; she held herself apart from the others for many reasons. However Hinata was no ruler; she never rose above that burden.

Sakura, she didn't understand. She kept herself secluded from the others in class, buried in her books. She wasn't the heir of a great clan, the victim of a tragedy, or the bearer of a dangerous bloodline. She just seemed to fall away from the others and hide away from the circles and bonds that formed around her.

As that separation grew, as the cliques and pecking orders solidified, Sakura fell quite easily to the bottom. Mocking, shunning, teasing — they grew worse from month to month, year to year. Unnoticeable at first, within the last year — perhaps even just the last few months — the drive to push yourself up and to push others down grew to where you brushed against it every day. You either fought back, got friends to help you fight, or you slowly disappeared. A few girls had actually dropped out of the shinobi program already due to this, and Ino had suspicions about one of the boys who no longer attended.

It was not that Ino favored the bullies, or approved of bullying in principal. However she had even less respect for those who gave up in the face of a little peer pressure, who wouldn't even try to fight back. For someone who stood up, she'd give her aid and support; but for someone who whimpered and crawled away? They were never worth helping in the first place.

Thus, Ino expected Sakura to quietly disappear as well, her color fading as quickly as her namesake in summer.

To Ino's surprise, though, she didn't. She bore it, hunkered down in her shell to deflect the worst of it, and quietly soldiered on. It occurred to Ino that Sakura had never yet missed a single class. She looked like she would break in a stiff wind, but she endured and kept pressing on.

Sakura was not a weakling; she just didn't have anyone to give her a hand up, to help her stand against the storm.

Certainly, surely, someone who would understood what it meant to need and want a friend.

* * *

><p>Ino smiled as she lay in bed that evening. A friend, a companion, a comrade, a confidant. She squealed as she hugged her pillow tightly. Sakura was smart; she'd understand Ino, and not just be some lackey. And she wasn't part of someone else's circle, so it wouldn't be a fight to pull her in.<p>

Except... Something didn't seem right. How could she just walk up to the girl in class and ask to be her friend? It just... wasn't _done_ that way (or rather, always as some sort of manipulation). Plus, what if Sakura turned her down? It wasn't like there was any specific reason for Ino to suddenly change her attitude like that. Gah, how humiliating! The class diva being rejected by the class nerd? Girls like Ami would never let her live it down.

She needed.. some event, some excuse, to not only talk with Sakura, but draw Sakura in, place her firmly within Ino's own social circle, to keep her safe from all the harpies in class. To make sure that it was Sakura who got drawn up to Ino's level, not for Ino to be dragged down to Sakura's.

Ino frowned. "You're in charge!" she reminded herself. "What is your duty?" Why, rescue the damsel in distress, of course! And Sakura would be ever so grateful, and they'd be best friends forever and ever after that.

Perfect.

* * *

><p>Having made her decision, all that was left was to act. There was no hesitance to her resolve, but there was uncertainty in actually finding the right <em>time<em>. Trying in class just felt awkward and fake, particularly since the bullying was far more subtle, to avoid catching a teacher's notice.

During lunch, or after school, though... she'd seen plenty of rough words exchanged in the bathrooms, or alleys near the school. She'd actually stepped in to help a few unfortunates when she could, but those had always involved targets from other grades; bullies loved tormenting those younger than them.

Ino had never seen them going after Sakura outside class, but then it was hard to find Sakura outside class, period. She was a sneaky one, perhaps motivated to avoid those types of girls. But it was important that she know that not all of them were like that; that there was at least one person willing to stand by her side.

So, Ino started searching. At first she had considered just following Sakura around, but realized that would be rather creepy and stalkerish if she was found out. Plus there was no guarantee of catching the right event. It was actually easier to follow around various cliques of girls, to see who they came across and how they acted. Of course, even then, more often than not, nothing of interest occurred.

"Hey, Ino."

Ino glanced aside in irritation, but the expression softened as she saw Chouji's concerned face. "What is it?" she asked, as she returned to surveying the general crowds of people eating lunch in the courtyards below. The rooftop balcony provided an excellent view of the school grounds.

"Um, I was just wondering if you were feeling ok. You've been a bit tense, lately." Chouji fumbled his fingers together awkwardly. He'd always felt a bit protective of Ino, despite the fact that she was the last person who might seem to need protecting. She was just always so intense and focused that it seemed she never took time to relax. Shikamaru was the opposite — he was so relaxed that he'd never take the effort to figure out what might be causing Ino distress.

It always seemed to be up to him to play the peacemaker between them.

Ino waved her hand distractedly. "Just looking for someone," was all detail she gave. "With the east wing shut down, there aren't as many places to hide today, so she should be around here somewhere..." Ino frowned as her assertion failed to prove true.

"I was just a little worried," Chouji tried again. "You haven't been hanging out as much, lately."

Ino snorted. "Is Shikamaru really so upset about not having to put up with me?" she asked sarcastically.

Chouji frowned at that. Ino only made fun of herself that way when she was really feeling depressed. Avoiding the question, he asked, "We were going to grab some barbeque for dinner after school today. Did you want to come?" That was a half-lie, since there had been no such arrangement made with Shikamaru. Still, he knew his lazy friend wouldn't object.

Ino actually seemed to consider for a moment, before shaking her head. "Sorry, no. Got some things I need to do this afternoon."

As Chouji tried to come up with another conversational tack, Ino suddenly turned around and started heading back into the building. Calling back over her shoulder, she said, "I need to go check some things inside. See you back in class, ok?"

"Ah, yeah," he answered back, his hand lifting in a half-wave that she wouldn't see. He sighed disconsolately. It was always difficult for him to figure out how to say the right thing to people, especially Ino. But, she was his friend. For him, that was enough, and he'd keep trying for as long as it took.

* * *

><p>Days passed, yet still Ino failed to corner Sakura at exactly the right time. Ino had even tried tailing Sakura herself, once, but Sakura noticed her and quickly ran off. Ino realized there was no point in following after, so let it go, but was left frustrated with the situation.<p>

How could she rescue Sakura if Sakura refused to get in trouble? It was almost laughable.

Ino frowned to herself at the end of another fruitless day. Perhaps it was just time to give up on this plan? She didn't like it, but she did know when to cut her losses. A more traditional approach, then, without the fanfare. It could work. It would take longer, and she'd have to put more effort into shielding Sakura until their friendship was more obviously solid and stable, but that wouldn't deter her.

Her future Best Friend still needed her help, so Ino would strive forward with her best effort.

Except... She found it harder and harder with each passing day. A greeting that was matched perfunctorily. Attempting to join at lunch, only to have Sakura slide off elsewhere. Making a joke, and attempting to include her in it, only to find Sakura nervously giggling at one of Naruto's antics.

Sakura's confidence seemed to grow, and, oddly, that growth made her harder to approach. It wasn't the confidence of a conqueror, the confidence of power, but the confidence of understanding, curiosity, and of not being fettered by the expectations of those around her, almost as if she were suddenly made privy to a massive, private joke.

Ino found herself struggling against the expectations she herself had built around herself — the circles, the cliques, the power plays. There were unspoken rules she had to follow if she wanted to maintain per position, and she found herself struggling against them even as Sakura seemed to slip out of her grasp.

* * *

><p>Ino stared at Sakura as she walked into class. Not that she was the only one; the massive battleaxe she was carrying with her drew the eyes of the entire classroom to it. Beyond the changes that had accumulated over the last few weeks, this just left Ino dumbfounded.<p>

The bookish recluse of a girl, gradually gaining confidence in herself, to the point of striding confidently into class with a weapon that was clearly a challenge to those around her... How much had she changed? How _could_ she have changed so much without Ino realizing?

How could the little princess have stopped being a princess?

Frankly, the axe was more than a little disturbing, and Sakura found herself with a decent-sized gap between herself and all of the other students. Yet even that didn't seem to bother her; she took her seat, set down the axe, and started rifling through the notebooks and small workbooks kept in the desk.

The whispers started, and Ino could easily make out several insulting terms, many starting with the letter 'b'. However one offhand comment turned 'battleaxe' into the new 'b' word.

Even a couple girls that Ino herself was fairly close to were making snide comments. Ino, though, frowned.

Ino didn't like bullies, but what she hated more were people who allowed themselves to be pushed around without ever fighting back. If they did fight back, though, Ino would stand by their side.

It seemed Ino had completely lost her chance to be Sakura's knight, but that wasn't the only game being played. Pulling out her own supplies, she relocated to the front row of seats, directly to the right of Sakura (though still out of reach of that axe), firmly showing where she stood in the new classroom politics.

Ino wasn't putting herself directly within Sakura's circle, but she was showing where she stood against those who would still pick on her. She could already pick up the subtle shifts in tone in the whispered voices, the shuffling of feet as different girls stood closer to one person or another to show where their loyalties lay. Those who had been closest to her remaining hesitant, one shifting away, one shifting closer.

It was a complicated war among these girls who most viewed as simple, giggling children, but that war was an old friend to Ino. She would forge ahead, just as she always did.

* * *

><p>The air cooled as summer gave way to fall, a pleasant time for outdoor activity, and anticipation for the more exciting aspects of being a ninja — ninjutsu.<p>

Ino was friendlier now with Sakura, though at best she was merely a friendly acquaintance rather than a friend. Ino kept her head held high, and enjoyed occasional dinners with Shikamaru and Chouji. Chouji still gave her worried looks, but never pressed, for which she was thankful.

Sakura's enthusiasm had turned quirky, often playing off of Naruto's bizarre proclamations and announcements. It seemed that Naruto had become the hero that Sakura needed. Ino just sighed wistfully. Even if she had become Sakura's friend, she could never have become someone like _that_.

But, there were other things she could think about, to take her mind off of that. Things like boys, with bodies that were becoming more attractive, with eyes that hinted at danger and power, with lips that promised sublime delight.

Ok, not so much 'boys' plural, as 'boy' of interest.

Whispers and giggles echoed in the hallways as girls dreamed of their favorite. Those in the higher tiers of the social circles jockeyed to claim the 'best' of the possible prospects, one in particular gaining greater and greater attention.

The game started slowly, subtly. Better clothes, fancier makeup, different hairdos. Finding what was noticed and what was ignored. A smile directed at him when you could catch his eye. Gently hinting that you were interested, and trying to tease out if he was interested as well.

None of the girls were long familiar with the game, of course, though they were learning quickly, each struggling for dominance over their peers. However that soon hit a stumbling block that none of them had expected: discovering Sasuke was a musician.

Some of the girls had been present the day that Sasuke had played Sakura's shamisen (and plenty of vitriol flowed from that fact), and the rumors and speculation spread quickly. After Kiba had brought in the shakuhachi, it seemed to have ignited a small storm among the girls, each trying to bring him newer and ever more interesting instruments, trying to outdo each other for the most prestigious gift. It soon got out of hand, to the point of ridiculousness in the instruments presented. New whispered rounds of frantic arguments circled through the class.

Until the Day of the Flute.

That's how that performance would always be remembered by the class. Before that, the instruments had been a game, but afterwards... Afterwards, Sasuke's music was respected in the same way as Sakura's axe — it was powerful, but more importantly, personal, and not something to be trifled with. Something settled in the hearts of the class that day, an understanding that couldn't be expressed in words.

* * *

><p>For Ino, it struck a chord she had gradually been papering over with feigned confidence and indifference. For some reason the tears just wouldn't stop.<p>

Finding an isolated spot behind the school, she leaned against a wall and wiped her eyes as the memory kept replaying in her head.

Tragedy. Pain. Longing. Loss. Loss of what was important, what was loved. Those closest to you, that could never be replaced. Family. Friends. Best friends.

The best friend that she'd never had.

The emptiness that she'd felt, that had built into a desperate desire for someone to bond with, to share with, seemed to overwhelm her yet again.

Yet at the end, hope. Comfort. To remember what was important, not what was lost.

How could she hope, though? Who would be her friend? Not a pawn, or a rival, or an acquaintance, but a _friend_.

Chouji, her mind supplied. Shikamaru. She scoffed at the latter. Even in her desperate straight, she knew that her friendship with Shikamaru, though real, could never carry real understanding. And Chouji, for all that he cared, was a boy. There was a gap there that could never truly be bridged.

She grimaced as she sank down the wall, coming to rest on the cool grass. She knew how others viewed her, and knew that it wasn't entirely wrong. Her fierce determination — headstrong. Her distaste for slackers — nagging. Her pride in her own accomplishments — arrogance.

Who could be her friend? Who was strong enough to not be pushed aside when she tried to get her own way?

No, not just that, she had to admit to herself. Not just demand that the other person be good enough for her, but that she had to be good enough for them, as well — as a friend.

As that thought seemed to release some of the tension from her body, and image flickered across her mind. A girl — strong, though reluctant — who had also needed a friend. One she had ignored before, in thoughtless selfishness.

No elaborate plans or careful interventions. Just simple and straightforward.

She didn't want to remember this as yet another lost opportunity.

* * *

><p>Ino plunked down on one of the benches, the shade of the school building welcomed after her taijutsu spar. Beside her sat a startled Hinata, who slowly tried to edge away.<p>

"She was supposed to be my best friend, you know?" Ino stated, as if it were perfectly normal to have a conversation with the shy Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata blinked and glanced back and forth between Ino and the group still waiting on the rotation. "She.. Umm, who?" she asked in a surprised voice.

Ino nodded her head towards the students still lined up. "Sakura," she clarified.

"I didn't.. umm.." Hinata tried to find a polite acknowledgement that wouldn't also sound like an insult.

Ino just shrugged and gave a soft sigh. "She's strong."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "Her axe is v-very impressive," she stuttered out.

"No, not that. Before the axes. She was shy, and picked on, but she never gave up. I thought... I thought someone like that would do; that she could..." Ino paused a moment, her mouth twisting in discomfort. "That she could be strong enough to weather the storm. That she wouldn't break."

Hinata nodded politely, though confused by Ino's words. What storm?

"I figured that she would naturally want to be my friend. Wouldn't anybody?" Ino asked in a mildly self-mocking manner. "But she found someone else, and I missed my chance. Tried to play hero, but she didn't need one."

An awkward silence fell between them.

"C-can't you still be her friend?" Hinata asked tentatively. "N-not to save her, just..." Hinata knew that she, herself, could never be anyone's hero.

"I don't know," Ino replied, face tilted down as her forearms rested on her legs. "Maybe I spent too much time imagining her as my best friend, not enough actually _being_ her friend."

Hinata scrunched in on herself a bit, at that. A best friend? She could hardly imagine what that would be like. Who could possibly want to be friends with her? She had classmates, relatives, and perhaps someday teammates. She had a place within the politics of the village, a constant battle of wits and will. She held rank within her clan, which would always be either above or below someone else; never equal.

The only light in her life was the one boy she admired, who would never give up. She could only admire from afar, but she could, maybe, be just a little bit more like him, a little bit less willing to run away. She just had to endure, and try her best.

But still, that's not what you wanted in a friend.

Ino spoke up again. "I know someone else who's like that — strong enough to never give up. But I don't know if she'd ever want to be friends with me. I don't have much practice."

Hinata frowned. "You're trying make another person be your friend?"

Ino shook her head. "No. I'm just... asking. Maybe someone would be OK with being my friend, and maybe needs a friend of her own."

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows. If this were a formal dinner, the blatant hints Ino was dropping could hardly be missed. However the idea that she was suggesting... _that_ didn't make sense. Hinata was anything but strong. How could Ino possibly _want_ to be friends with her?

"Who?" the whisper was forced out of her mouth.

Ino just turned, looking Hinata in the eyes. A pensive look marred her face, and then she pulled out a red ribbon, cautiously handing it over.

It was simple cloth, but the weight it seemed to hold for her — for both of them — was immense. Gently, Hinata accepted the small gift, her face showing the faintest smile.


	5. Choices

Chapter 5 - Choices

"Yo."

Kakashi slouched into the meeting room where the jounin were discussing and arranging teams from this year's genin graduates. He rarely worried himself over the details of the team breakdowns, since they had yet to give him a team that even passed the first threshold of, "Do I want to waste the next year of my life babysitting this group of screwups?"

However, the previous year his self-proclaimed rival, Gai, had actually collected a team he considered acceptable — which was pretty much a miracle in itself, given Gai's unwillingness to accept anything less than 100% dedication — so Kakashi figured he might as well make a token effort, himself.

Plus, his sensei's son was part of this year's graduates, and it would be nice to do something that could be considered some small payback for all the effort Minato had spent on him and his teammates.

"Ah, Kakashi, how kind of you to grace us with your presence this afternoon," the Hokage greeted him.

Kakashi nodded back in faint acknowledgement as he looked around the room. "My neighbor's washing machine overflowed, and she was having the most awful time cleaning up the wet floors. It would break my heart if she had slipped and injured herself, so of course I had to help her clean up."

Several eyes rolled at that, but everyone was used to his excuses, so no further comments were made.

Kakashi casually strolled around the tables, occasionally glancing at the folders containing students' dossiers that were scattered about. The jounin usually didn't weigh in during the initial round of debates, instead listening to the chunin in the room argue the merits of team synergy, psychological balance, and combined combat potential. It was as much an evaluation of the chunin themselves as it was the genin whose fates were being determined.

He noticed that the new jounin, Kurenai, hovered protectively near the dossier for one... Hinata Hyuuga. She _wanted_ that one, even though she wanted to avoid stepping on the toes of the more senior jounin by claiming the heir to such a prestigious clan.

Asuma had set himself up in the corner, smoking a cigarette, and apparently doing nothing but waiting for the current chatter to die down.

The weaponmaster Hayama was carefully considering one particular folder, a thoughtful frown on his face. As Kakashi angled himself to get a surreptitious peek at the one who had interested the man, he noticed the Hokage catching his eye. He sidled over and leaned against the desk, pulling out a copy of Icha Icha out of pure habit, to disguise his focus.

"So how are the chunin doing this year?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

"Surprisingly well, actually," the Hokage replied. "They seem to be grasping the strengths of the students quite quickly. There are at least two that I'll probably recommend for testing next month. However, what I wanted to talk with you about was potential candidates for your own team."

"Really?" Kakashi commented blandly, studiously _not_ glancing at all the chunin putting in so much work to create their 'ideal' teams.

The Hokage merely smiled good-naturedly. "As you know, we'd like you to handle Naruto, if possible."

Kakashi mentally supplied "the jinchuriki" into that statement.

"However his growing interest in fuinjutsu" — Kakashi actually did raise an eyebrow at that — "has made the surrounding team rather more complicated that we had originally considered. Normally a person of his talents is likely to be the powerhouse of his team, so we'd generally group him with one genin who can act to keep him psychologically grounded, as well as one to drive his motivation and loyalty.

"Fuinjutsu is a rather more intellectual pursuit, however, and while very powerful in its own right, will mean he needs a certain amount of physical screening in order to perform well. It also has an entirely different set of psychological extremes that will need to anchored."

"And you think you've found genin that can fulfill those conditions?" Kakashi prompted, as the Hokage's explanation ran out.

The older man took a few moments to tamp fresh tobacco into his pipe, and lit it, before continuing. "There's one girl that Hayama is very interested in. While quite intelligent, she seems to have developed quite a formidable skill with weapons. And Kurenai" — he gestured towards the female jounin that was still circling a certain segment of the tables — "has become interested in taking on the young Uchiha boy — apparently quite gifted in genjutsu — but also wants the Hyuuga girl, and is fretting over being entirely too greedy in her team choice." He chuckled slightly at that.

"However Iruka," he continued, "has personally recommended that the three of them be kept together. He says the girl helps complement Naruto's drive, while the Uchiha actually manages to keep both of them from being too... scatterbrained, as he put it." He shook his head at that thought. "And the three together provide a fairly balanced arrangement of combat power — fuinjutsu, genjutsu, and kenjutsu. The only issue is whether the trio can be argued to have better potential as a team than each of their individual members would have if placed on other teams."

"Hmmm," was Kakashi's only comment.

"If he hadn't become so obsessed with fuinjutsu, I probably would have suggested teaming him up with the Inuzuka boy, and perhaps the Nara. Still, we must make do with what we have." Exhaling a stream of smoke, he set the pipe down before starting to stand up. "Things seem to be settling down; let's see what they've come up with."

* * *

><p>The Hokage nodded politely as the last of the chunin presented his recommendations for team designs. Many of the suggested groupings were quite mundane, but that was simply because they were tried and tested; no need to mess with what works. However, a few seemed to be competing to see who could come up with the most unique design ever, which was always a fun little show.<p>

The gathered jounin were seated around a table with pages of summary info in front of each of them, and the less obvious negotiations were already beginning. While taking on a genin team was a duty, it was also an honor, and a competition of sorts. The performance of the team a jounin taught reflected on the jounin themselves, carrying prestige or ignominy, depending on the results. Many would rather fail their genin than take on a team that might drag down their own image.

Thus there was fierce competition for the most promising of the new graduates, though the newer jounin knew that they'd usually have to make do with the leftovers, since the more influential jounin generally got first pick, and took the cream of the crop.

Asuma was the first to speak up. "I'd be fine taking the Ino-Shika-Cho team," he drawled out. There were a few small mutterings, but no one could claim greater pull than the Hokage's son.

Hiruzen frowned slightly. While the Ino-Shika-Cho combo certainly _worked_, of late it had seemed that those families had been allowing familiarity to make them lazy. Unfortunately, despite some mild suggestions of his, there were almost no competing proposals using the three genin in other combos; it was pretty much accepted fact that they'd be put together.

After that, things started to move more quickly.

Yuuhi made a call for Hinata, Sasuke and Shino. Very few ninja were truly comfortable with the Aburame clan, and while it didn't escalate to outright shunning, there was definitely a reluctance in associating with them; Hinata, meanwhile, was both a political hot potato and of dubious promise as a student, regardless of the theoretical prestige teaching her might confer. So Yuuhi probably felt she could use those choices as leverage to also gain the talented illusionist. The other jounin would naturally be inclined to allow a jounin to take students that strongly followed that jounin's specialties.

Hayama's request was similarly focused on his talents, using a proposed heavy combat team of Sakura, Sasuke and Kiba.

The infiltration specialist, Riichi the Ghost, signalled an interest in one of the few proposals that broke up the Ino-Shika-Cho collective — Ino, Hinata, and a boy named Tobio. The chunin that had come up with that proposal seemed quite proud that it had been selected, smirking at one of the other chunin, who likely was an old teammate of hers.

This continued for a bit more, as the jounin who were lower on the totem pole gradually worked their way through the remainder of the class. At the end, only Kakashi was left before the final haggling got underway.

His ever-present book dropped slightly, as if he had just noticed that everyone else was waiting on him. He seemed to consider silently for a moment, before saying, "Mah. I'll go with Iruka's recommendation. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke."

There was a collective groan at that. Naruto was pretty much a given — none of the other jounin had bothered selecting him — but that was going to open a lot of holes in the teams the other jounin had hoped to set up, and Kakashi had enough sway that it was unlikely that they'd be able to get one of those other genin away from him. The only one who might — Asuma — had already laid claim to his own team.

* * *

><p>As evening approached, a chunin entered the Hokage's office with the final tally. Hiruzen had left the jounin to their own devices soon after Kakashi had finally weighed in, as he was comfortable that there wouldn't be any unpleasant surprises after that.<p>

As he reviewed the report, however, he found his eyebrows rising in mild disbelief. "You're sure this is correct?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," came the crisp reply.

"Well," he said, leaning back in his chair and pulling his pipe out for another smoke. "This will be an interesting year."

* * *

><p>The Hokage mentally reviewed the events, as reported by the chunin who had remained at the meeting for exactly this reason.<p>

Kurenai lost Sasuke to Kakashi, partly due to the more backhanded implication that her previous attempts to teach a genjutsu prodigy (Yakumo Kurama) ended in dismal failure. This led to dragging more (minor) complaints out of the closet, which, coupled with the fact that she was the newest of the jounin, lost her the edge on even holding onto Hinata, who went to Riichi's team.

Kakashi felt curiously optimistic about Riichi's requested team, and so lent his weight towards putting Ino there rather than in the standard Ino-Shika-Cho. The fact that it reduced the number of competitors for his own choices (due to the domino effects it would have on the other jounin) had nothing to do with it, certainly. He also had to keep his title as laziest jounin of Konoha, which Asuma was threatening to usurp with his setup.

Kurenai claimed that, if she couldn't teach Hinata herself, she could at least do her best to ensure Hinata could keep the friendship she'd been developing with Ino. For that, she threw her weight in behind Riichi's team claim. She shouldn't have been so greedy with Sasuke; taking a lesser-claimed genin such as Kiba would have allowed her to weather the bartering stage.

With sufficient numbers against him, Asuma was forced to concede Ino from his team. In order to fill the remaining slot, he asked for Shino to replace Ino (Shino's longer range making him well-suited to fill the same effective role of neutralizing bound targets). This left Kurenai without a team, but she had to give that up if she wanted to give Hinata her chance. She reluctantly conceded, and withdrew from further claims.

Hayama was left with only one unclaimed student, Kiba, and didn't have the leverage to get Sakura away from Kakashi. He eventually managed to pull enough weight to gain Hikari, a member of the Fuuma clan, and Ryouji.

Team Results (selected pages):

Team 5: Riichi the Ghost  
>Ino<br>Hinata  
>Tobio (Kedoin; bloodline asserts after puberty)<p>

Team 7: Kakashi Hatake  
>Naruto<br>Sakura  
>Sasuke<p>

Team 8: Hayama Shirakumo  
>Kiba<br>Hikari (Fuuma)  
>Ryouji<p>

Team 10: Asuma Sarutobi  
>Shino<br>Shikamaru  
>Choji<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi ambled through the market square, enjoying the bright sunshine of late morning, the smells of fresh cooking, and the hum of humanity around him. It was the type of day that could put a smile on your face, and so he did just that. The smile was genuine, but not in the way most people understood it. He did not smile <em>because<em> he was happy, he smiled to _be_ happy. It was the cause, not the effect. By smiling, his mind understood that it should be happy, and so it was.

The walk was pleasant, calming muscles and soothing the ever-present tense readiness that a decade of war and ANBU had ingrained into his body. A good night's sleep was, unfortunately, the least relaxing part of his day, and he spent many of his waking hours attempting to re-train his body away from that instinctive desire to kill.

Kakashi stopped briefly at a small shop front, smacking a child's hand away from the candy bins that he'd been reaching for while his mother's back was turned. Noticing an elderly lady with a number of shopping bags, he ensured he was in place to catch them by the time one started to slip, and then helped her carry them home. After he waved goodbye to her and made his way north, he passed through a park, pausing briefly to retrieve a kickball that had been stuck in a tree.

Each action he took, he burned into his mind: a reminder of simple, normal daily life, peace, tranquility, normality — the things he fought for, and killed for. The things he must never forget were the _reasons_ he stepped onto the field of battle in the first place.

His own road of life had been a bumpy one, but as long as he could remind himself that it was _worth it_, he could keep going, and not dwell so much on the shadows of the past.

And today, this bright, sunny day, he was going to meet the newest set of prospects for him to teach — the newest genin to mold, the newest bearers of future hopes and dreams.

* * *

><p>Kakashi followed the Hokage down the hallway of the apartment building, taking casual note of how well the aged structure held up, so many years after having been created by the first Hokage. Much of the village had been shaped this way, though the initial construction was mainly just to have someplace to live while people worked on building houses and stores and such to fit their more specific needs.<p>

Over time, this particular apartment block had been converted into a dormitory of sorts for potential genin that had moved here from all corners of the Land of Fire. While hazardous, becoming a ninja was a prestigious opportunity — an opportunity far beyond the means of many of the more unfortunate people of the land. Even a simple genin could at least make enough money to send a small stipend back to an impoverished farm or unlucky siblings.

Most, though, would spend their brief lives fighting small skirmishes at the borders, or tracking down bandits in the forests, all to provide a safer country for the rest of the populace. Their strength was not great, but they didn't have to be great to be useful.

They finally stopped in front of one particular door — the apartment belonging to one of the village's great secrets, hidden in plain sight, obscured by the appearance of being just another poor child from a refugee family.

"So this is where Naruto lives?" Kakashi asked, sweeping a lazy eye across the apartment, a small one-bedroom flat with a kitchen/dining area/living room all sharing one large space.

"Yes," the Hokage replied, taking a seat while he allowed the younger man time to peruse the area. "He isn't the brightest, but he tries hard. I certainly hope he'll grow to be a fine young man under your instruction," he said, smiling around his pipe.

"Hmm," was all Kakashi said as he tried to get a grasp on the nature of the person who lived here.

While there had been mention of Naruto's interest in fuinjutsu, he was surprised see that Naruto apparently took it _very_ seriously. An entire corner of the front room had been cleared of usual furniture, instead holding stacks of writing paper and bottles of ink, beside a small stand upon which rested several calligraphy brushes, all well-used. A number of scrolls and books were stacked up on make-shift shelves, while a wastepaper basket was filled with failed drawings.

Situated above them all, hanging on a chain that was hooked to the wall, was a massive calligraphy brush, several feet long, and with the bristles of its mop-like head drooping above a small catch-basin.

Studious, then.

A glance into the bedroom showed the usual mess a boy living on his own would make. Popping open the fridge in the kitchen, he noticed a lot of food he wouldn't normally expect, though. Berries and oranges; a small basket of fresh tomatoes; carrots and broccoli in the vegetable drawer; milk and juice; and what appeared to be a paper-wrapped package of fish, freshly purchased from the market.

Closing the refrigerator door, he noticed rice and flour on the counter, and on the table next to where the Hokage was still seated, a bowl of various nuts (to which the Hokage was helping himself).

It was... healthy. Despite being studious, he couldn't imagine a 12-year-old boy with no adult supervision focusing so much on healthy foods, rather than whatever his personal favorite obsession was.

Noticing his curious look, the Hokage helpfully supplied, "From what Naruto has told me, he was told certain foods help make you smarter. Given his difficulties in class, he was determined to use whatever it took to keep up with his studies." He smiled as he fished out the meat of a walnut. "I must say it's kept my own doctors happy that I don't need to indulge in ramen when I visit the boy. Always complaining about me eating too much salt," he added with an annoyed grimace.

"In any case," the Hokage continued, standing up, "I trust you'll treat him fairly. With Sasuke, of the Uchiha clan, also on your team, I'm expecting great things from you."

'Well, this could be troublesome,' Kakashi thought, taking one last look around before he followed the Hokage out the door.

* * *

><p>While the Hokage only wanted to personally accompany him on his visit to Naruto's apartment, Kakashi himself made brief stops at the homes of the other two.<p>

Sasuke's room was clean, spartan — sterile, even. Nothing was out of place, and there were no decorations aside from one calligraphied wall scroll and a flute placed on a stand on his dresser (within which all his clothes were neatly folded, and ordered by color).

A degree of obsession was to be expected, but something about this was... off. The desire to kill was ugly, and left stains on your life, no matter how well-guarded. This was still an obsession, but pointed at something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He'd have to observe the boy directly.

Given that the Hagoromo clan still claimed stewardship duties to the Uchiha, the rest of the house was well maintained, but of no real interest.

Sakura's room was about as normal as you could imagine a young girl's would be. Pink curtains, flowery bedsheets, white dressers topped with nick-knacks, make-up and jewelry. It was so boringly mundane that he was just about to turn right back around and leave, before remembering that this girl was the one being scouted by the weaponmaster, and apparently heavily focused on kenjutsu.

Taking a more critical eye, he began to notice flaws in the superficial view. Jewelry laid out in a precise array, without the disorder of one trying on different items and discarding them. Fingernail polish bottles that had never been opened. Brushing some papers aside on the desk, he found hidden pages of weapons that had been ripped out of a catalog. A pink scrunchie on the floor that he toed aside carried a very notable weight.

A mask, to hide herself — from her parents? Perhaps. The Harunos were a merchant clan, not ninjas. There was a side to being a ninja that they may not want to admit or acknowledge.

* * *

><p>Kakashi considered what he'd learned today as he meandered back through the streets of the town, towards the Academy. It was probably about time for him to show up.<p>

A jinchuriki who studied fuinjutsu. Unusual interest, but dedicated. Reminiscent of his parents; that would make them happy. Exuberant in his own interests, but would he be able to properly consider the needs of others?

The Uchiha, who was good at genjutsu. Clean and fastidious; focused. Difficulties forming bonds.

The Haruno girl, with a personal drive for kenjutsu, but not entirely willing to share her interests with those closest to her. Trust issues.

Some indication that Sasuke managed to keep the other two in line while in school, but would they accept that same disciplinary taskmaster in the field?

He'd find out fairly soon. These children — his genin, his students, his soldiers — if they passed his test, then their life would be forever changed. Their life would no longer be their own; instead, they'd be trained, and sent out to fight, to kill. The innocent hopefulness they had today transformed into weary understanding of the reality of the world.

Training? When young, they always beg for more training — to be stronger, to be better, to be greater than any others. And the stronger you got, the more you push ahead. The more capable the shinobi, the more likely they were to dive in too deep, too soon, and not be able to reach the surface again.

The better they were at killing, the more that they would, indeed, kill, and every life taken shaved that much more of their innocence away.

Before they learned how to kill, they had to learn how to live. Before learning to fight, they had to know what they were fighting _for_ — not grand ideals or patriotism, abstract concepts that were difficult to apply but easy to abuse, but the people they walked beside every day. They needed those bonds to keep them human, to not lose themselves to the killing.

He'd have to see if they were capable of forming those bonds, and, if they were, to give them the time to build those bonds before they were tested in battle, to be able to survive the risk of being crushed in the drive for more power, more death.

As these thoughts bled away, he found himself finally at the entrance to the classroom they'd be in. He sighed lightly as he stood before the door. He had to wonder whether the Hokage might not have been using Iruka's 'suggestion' as just a little bit of an excuse to get back at him for... something. Surely he hadn't done anything _that_ troublesome?

He opened the door. A cloud of smoke formed in front of his eyes. He allowed it to clear some as Naruto laughed and cheered.

"How can I say this? My first impression of you is... I hate you."


	6. Meetings

Chapter 6 - Meetings

A modest, informal gathering of several dozen students and their parents was held as celebration for their graduation from the Academy. It allowed for a bit of socialization among the adults, who got to show their pride in their children's achievements, bragging about each one to each other. Rarely did anyone outside the immediate families attend, though a handful of stoic Hyuuga had a circle of quiet deference around them.

"Tenten!" Sakura ran up and hugged her friend once the mingling had begun. "Congratulations!"

"What, you thought I wouldn't graduate? I'm offended!"

Sakura just stuck her tongue out at her.

"Hehe, congrats Tenten," Naruto said as he worked his way closer, chasing after the exuberant Sakura.

Tenten raised her eyebrow, glanced back to where her dad was talking with another of the parents, then turned back and said in a harsh whisper, "If you start calling me an Evil Minion here, I will kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit for a week!"

Naruto immediately held up his hands in denial, assuring her that he had no such plans.

Tenten slowly grinned at his spluttering, before reaching forward and grabbing him in a half-hug. As Naruto quickly extricated himself from the embarrassing (to him) position, Tenten just smiled and said, "Thanks, guys. It was a lot of fun. I'll be sure to come see you when you graduate too, 'k?"

As the friendly camaraderie reasserted itself and smalltalk started between Sakura and Tenten, Naruto kept looking around. Just as Tenten was about to ask what he was looking for, he started waving over the crowd and calling out. "Sasuke! Over here!"

Tenten looked curiously at the boy making his way towards them through the crowd. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, kept his hands in his pockets, and seemed like he was only showing up out of duress. She commented jokingly, "What, Sakura's boyfriend?"

As Sakura blushed, Naruto spun around and belted out, "No! No way!" Pointing at Tenten, then Sakura in turn, finally spinning around and pointing at Sasuke and reaffirming, "No way!"

Tenten chuckled as Sasuke stared at Naruto in annoyance and confusion. She pulled out a paper fan (that she'd found to be a pretty much permanent necessity with Naruto around) and swatted Naruto upside the head in a friendly fashion. "I was just kidding, ya bonehead."

"Ah, heheheh," Naruto chuckled, before clearing his head. "This is Sasuke," he said, introducing the boy, before turning and saying, "This is Tenten."

"Hn," Sasuke acknowledged.

"A friend of yours, Naruto?" Tenten inquired.

"He's been saying he wanted to meet you. Since you've been too busy for practice and stuff the last couple weeks, we figured he could come see you here at graduation!"

Sakura nodded in agreement, adding, "He plays the flute, and he's really good at genjutsu."

"Genjutsu, eh?" Tenten asked, looking at Sasuke queryingly.

Sasuke just shrugged noncommittally. "It's one of the things I'm training." After pausing, he continued, "I wanted to see what kind of person could put up with these two numbskulls." While seeming casual, he still kept a close eye on her reaction.

Tenten laughed and, resting the paper fan against a shoulder, said, "Yeah, these two in the same class has got to be a nightmare."

"Hey!" a pair of voices echoed out.

Sasuke gazed at Tenten, turned to look at the offended pair, then back to Tenten. "But you don't seem to have a problem with them."

Tenten shrugged and smiled. "Just gotta know where to draw the line, when to say, 'Enough is enough', and let them _know_—" here she smacked each of the two lightly on the head with the fan "—that they need to tone it down some. Other than that, it's easy to see that they try hard, and as long as they don't give up, that's what's important."

"Hn," was all Sasuke responded with, seeming to take what she said into consideration, and giving a speculative look at the fan she held.

"Anyway!" Tenten interrupted the serious mood. "My dad wanted to say hi to you guys, so come on! He's had enough time to make a fuss about me, and they haven't even put me on a team yet."

While the other three walked towards a small group with, presumably, Tenten's dad in it, Sasuke held back, rather uncomfortable among so many families, so many reminders of what he didn't have anymore, and hating them for it. Though an overheard comment of, "Your mother would be so proud of you." that made Tenten blush and smile sadly, caused a tiny twinge of guilt. Finally he just shook his head and made his way silently out of the crowd.

* * *

><p>Sasuke blinked out of the memory as Iruka finished his congratulations speech, and began reading out the team selections. The small gathering celebrating the graduation of their own class had been a similar affair, though ironically not as pleasant.<p>

There was no family for him to mingle with, nor Naruto, and Sakura actually spent the entire time without her axe, standing politely near an older couple that seemed to be fussily annoyed at almost everyone around them.

He made polite nods to the parents of other classmates, but there was a distance that respect for the Uchiha created, even if the clan itself no longer existed. The only one who had it worse was Hinata, with the Hyuuga elders hovering over her. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ino keeping a close watch on the other girl, even if their families remained largely separated. Their strange friendship was one that everyone in class recognized, but that no one really commented on or talked about.

Tenten had, as promised, stopped by to give her congratulations to Naruto and Sakura, and even to him, oddly enough. She apologized for not bringing her own teammates along to introduce them, but claimed it would be too 'disruptive'. Sasuke guessed that Tenten must be cursed to manage people like Naruto and Sakura, and silently wished her luck.

But now it was time to see what team he himself would be placed on. Who would it be? Could any of them help him get stronger? Not directly, of course, but the strength of the team was a reflection of the strength of the jounin who taught them. The stronger the instructor, the stronger he himself could become under the man's teaching; the stronger the team, the stronger the jounin who would be assigned to handle them. So who within this class would best represent the strength needed?

In raw physical strength, no one surpassed Sakura, but his mind shied away from that answer. He'd need greater mental fortitude than physical fortitude to handle being on a team with her. Aside from that... perhaps Kiba? Chouji? They were both strong fighters. If clan was all that mattered, it would be Hinata, but her personality gave lie to that.

Before he could continue speculating, though, Iruka's next statement interrupted.

"Team 7! Sasuke Uchiha; Naruto Uzumaki; Sakura Haruno! Your instructor will be Kakashi Hatake."

Sasuke stared, his mind not quite able to grasp the calamity of that combination. He didn't even realize his mouth had opened when he heard his own voice shout, "Are you crazy?"

Iruka frowned at him disapprovingly, as many of the class turned to look at him. His voice in disciplinary mode, he asked, "Is there a problem, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's jaw opened and closed briefly, before he clenched it shut and replied, "No, sir."

"Then please don't interrupt. Now, next: Team 8!"

Sasuke stopped listening and turned to stare at the two students who had caused him so many headaches over the last couple years. Strength? Only if insanity counted as a strength.

He closed his eyes and wondered if Tenten would let him borrow one of her paper fans...

* * *

><p>Three newly-minted genin waited in the classroom, having watched the other teams slowly drift out as their jounin instructors picked them up. Giddy discussions bounced between Naruto and Sakura, while Sasuke relaxed in his seat by the window, basking in the afternoon sun. Despite the headache that threatened every time he thought about his new teammates, it was still underscored with the knowledge that both of them always pushed their hardest to achieve their goals, even if the goals didn't always make sense.<p>

On the other hand, as the second hand on the clock ticked away, his patience was starting to wear thin. And if his was wearing thin...

"Where is he?" Naruto screamed out. He huffed after that, clearly annoyed, but not actually angry.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Sakura said. She had always been far more patient than either of the boys. "He's got the greatest team around waiting for him, right?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yes! He's waiting for us to show how much we appreciate having an awesome teacher! So when he shows up we can impress him, and he'll be all, 'Wow!', and we'll be 'Yeah!', and then we'll go save the princess!"

"Naruto.." Sasuke growled out.

"Just watch!" Naruto proclaimed, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke. With that, he brought out some rolls of paper, a pen and some ink, and started crafting a series of seals.

Sakura leaned over Naruto's shoulder at times to watch him work, but refrained from disturbing him. When she got bored with that, she started doing a kata with her axe out in the main classroom floor area. Sasuke merely waited patiently.

Eventually, Naruto exclaimed, "There!", setting his brush down and taking the seals over to the entryway near the door and starting to lay them out.

"So what did you make?" Sasuke asked.

"Fireworks!" Naruto said proudly. "They're the best thing for a celebration!"

A pause of silent contemplation.

"Those aren't going to set the classroom on fire, are they?"

Naruto froze for a few seconds, and then started laughing nervously. He then swept the seals up and ran back to his desk, starting a new batch. Sakura set down her axe and, after watching Naruto for a bit more, started offering suggestions for a safer display, and considerations for the trigger mechanism. Naruto grabbed the ideas, elaborated on them, and kept drawing like crazy, his hands keeping up with his brain where his mouth couldn't.

After this second set was completed and finally set up, it was back to waiting. The excitement of the celebratory display faded, and Sakura started poking holes in the desktop with her finger.

"He's got to be lost!" Naruto finally shouted out. "We need to go find him!" He jumped up and rushed at the door, though luckily Sakura managed to stop him before he opened it.

"You'll trigger the seals, dummy!" she said, giving him a slap on the shoulder.

Naruto groaned and started walking around the classroom again. "Fine, fine. Hmm. Hey, Sasuke! Why don't you play your flute? That's always nice to listen to."

Sasuke shook his head on reflex. Honestly, he enjoyed playing, and normally wouldn't have minded, but he always had a gut reaction to reject any of Naruto's ideas. One way or another, they were just going to lead to tears.

"Pleeeeease?" Naruto pleaded, leaning up against Sasuke's desk and trying his best puppydog-eye look. Sasuke remained firm.

"Sakura?" Naruto turned his gaze. "You'd like to hear him play, right? Like, the time with the drums!" he said, pulling out their earliest memory of playing together. "And the..." He couldn't quite mention the time the flute was played, as that was an unspoken taboo in the class, but they still knew what he meant.

Sakura turned excitedly to Sasuke, practically bouncing as she remembered it, before mentioning something unexpected: "You said the drums needed a flute accompaniment, right?"

Sasuke blinked at that. Had he said that? It had been so long ago that he couldn't recall, though drums and the flute did sound good together. There had been a couple times he'd managed something of the sort, playing the flute to himself in the woods near where the festival drums played, but never in class. Besides, why would she be talking about drums? He only had the one instrument on him right now.

As that thought crossed his mind, Sakura pulled out a small storage scroll — one of two, gifts from Tenten, if he remembered correctly. His eyes widened as he suddenly realized that she should only need one for her axe (though she never kept the axe stored while at school). She wouldn't...

She jumped down to the floor and quickly unrolled the scroll. A storage seal was visible. And with a quick slap as she undid the chakra seal—

One last medium-sized taiko drum, along with a pair of bashi sticks.

Sasuke stared.

Naruto stared.

Sakura grinned bashfully.

Sasuke sighed deeply, even as Sakura looked at him hopefully, and Naruto was already jumping around triumphantly. Was there any way he could get Iruka to put him on another team?

Sasuke looked at the clock. Already almost two hours since their sensei was supposed to have shown up. Meh, screw it.

As he pulled out his flute, Sakura jumped for joy and immediately set up to play. Naruto was already shaking his hair out and swinging his head back and forth, before stomping his foot in a way easily recognizable as the start of the festival's demon-banishing dance.

Slowly at first, then with increasing confidence, the two played a simplified tune for Naruto to dance to. Sasuke noted that Sakura had significantly improved in her drumplay since that time... what, over a year ago, wasn't it? He'd thought she had lost interest in it, but it seems she still practiced on her own, if the hidden drum was any indication.

Naruto didn't seem to have any cares that his dance was 'proper' — he just let himself flow with the music. The traditional demon-banishing dance, to drive out evil spirits and cleanse people's homes, was an elaborate celebration that they were certainly not doing justice to. Still... Even if these two were a couple of crazy demons themselves, there were times he didn't mind being dragged in their wake.

Suddenly, a loud 'crack!' snapped him out of his reverie.

Several clouds of smoke drifted up from the floor near the door — mixtures of red, orange, blue and gold — highlighted by flare seals that acted as miniature spotlights. Behind them (relative to the door) a banner had popped up with the word "Congratulations!" written on it.

The three genin were frozen — Sasuke with his flute to his lips, Sakura with the drum sticks above her head, and Naruto with one foot raised and his arms wound back.

With that view, their new jounin sensei spoke.

"How can I say this? My first impression of you is... I hate you."

* * *

><p>After a bit of cleanup, Kakashi took them up to the roof for a little introduction meeting.<p>

Kakashi leaned back against the railing, looking at the children in front of him, and trying to decide exactly what he thought of these three.

Sasuke. Only survivor of the massacre that exterminated his entire clan, and perpetrated by his own brother. He was known to have built up a great deal of anger, a desire for vengeance, in the time he was monitored after the event. His file said he had calmed down lately, but his room showed that that was merely a cover for a far more focused drive. That clean, sterile environment, free of any distractions, any possible attachments, was the world of one who had no thoughts but a single overriding goal: revenge.

Naruto. Jinchuriki (though he didn't know it), and son of the fourth Hokage (though he didn't know it). All he knew was that he had no home, no family, no clan. He had latched onto fuinjutsu as some sort of Uzumaki heritage (though that was like saying the Inuzuka had a strong heritage as dog breeders; while true of the clan as a whole, it was mostly false at the individual level), and entirely dedicated himself to that. His apartment, among so many refugee children and children of destitute families, each trying to climb the ranks of a ninja, showed a studious dedication towards rising above that.

Sakura. The merchant clan she was born into had no significant history as shinobi, but the girl was intelligent, and considered talented with weapons. Her room showed an obsession with appearances, of a 'mask' that she showed the world. The detailed mask of 'normalcy' was what she showed her parents. What did she show her classmates? What would she try to show him?

Even as these thoughts churned through his mind, he started speaking. "Why don't you introduce yourselves. You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes, dreams for the future, stuff like that." How they reacted and what they said showed a lot about them.

"I like ramen!" Naruto immediately volunteered — no hesitance whatsoever. "And strawberries and blueberries, they taste great with milk. And walnuts, when they're in season. I don't like broccoli, but I'll still eat it. It's not too bad when you stir fry it. And lemonade in the summer!"

"We're not interested in your grocery list, idiot", said Sasuke, cuffing Naruto on the back of the head.

"Oh yeah? Well what do _you_ like?"

Sasuke glanced away, then muttered, "Tomatoes."

"Really? I like those too! Mix it with slices of avocados and—"

Kakashi cleared his throat. He felt like this could go on all day if he let it. Naruto seemed easily distracted.

"Maybe Sakura should start off, instead."

Sakura perked up and smiled brightly. Putting a finger to her chin as she thought, she finally said, "I like... friends who will listen to me. And reading. And my axe." She patted it affectionately. "My hobbies are oppressing peasants and playing taiko drums. My dream—"

"Oppressing peasants?" Kakashi interrupted. The first shapings of the mask he would see, it appeared.

"It's OK," Sakura chirped. "Naruto will save them before they're completely crushed under my heel."

"Right!" Naruto affirmed. "I like to save people who are oppressed by evil overlords!"

Kakashi glanced at Naruto. Now why would he play along with Sakura's fantasies? More hints at striving to gain attention?

"You know," Kakashi said, with a hint of irritation, "maybe you're not ready to be genin after all, if you're not going to take this seriously."

"We totally are ready!" Naruto denied. "And absolutely serious!" he continued angrily. "I didn't spend the last two years studying my ass off just for fun! I'm going to be the best fuinjutsu master ever! And I'm going to make sure I can stop any evil overlords who show up!"

Sakura added, "And every hero needs an evil overlord!"

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and seemed to be unconsciously grasping for something.

Finally sitting up straight, the dark-haired boy glanced at the other two, then said, "No matter what they're called, heroes or villains, there are some who must be held accountable for their actions, who must pay for the pain they've caused in this world. I want to ensure that that justice is carried out."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. There was that hint at his drive for revenge, though he seemed inclined to hide his real intent from others, for whatever reason.

So. Naruto, driven, but easily distracted. Sakura, already building up a mask, though the desire to play the villain was peculiar. And Sasuke, playing at justice, but possibly as a multi-purpose tool to control the other two, based on the looks they were giving him.

He recalled how Iruka supposedly described them: scatterbrained. With too much focus on their imaginary worlds, could they even appreciate what they were going to be fighting for? Never mind the seriousness of the fighting itself, should it come to that.

"I see," Kakashi finally replied. "Well, tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi."

"Yes!" Naruto was ecstatic, earlier anger quickly forgotten. "What do we start with?"

"Survival training."

Kakashi continued through his prepared spiel — two-third's failure rate, kicked back to the Academy, don't eat breakfast — while watching the genin react in turns confused and outraged. It was always good to get them wound up at the start; those emotions were the key to seeing what they were really made of. And maybe it would temper their more wildly-flung imaginations enough that he wouldn't regret not just failing them all right here.

Before he finally departed, though, Naruto called out. "What about you, sensei?"

"Hmm? What about me?"

"What do you like, and stuff?"

"What do I like?" He pondered the question briefly, before replying, "I wonder..."

With that, he was gone.

* * *

><p>"I don't like him," Sakura grumbled as they made their way out of the building. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, pausing before turning towards his home.<p>

"Yeah, seriously!" Naruto vented his own feelings. "What was up with that 'extra test' stuff? We already graduated! And he didn't even say thanks for the celebratory fireworks and stuff!"

"You didn't use fireworks," Sasuke reminded him.

"Whatever!" Naruto threw his hands up and started pacing in a circle, grumbling to himself. "And he was late!"

"Why don't _you_ like him?" Sasuke asked Sakura, turning to her so that he could ignore Naruto's rants.

Sakura made a face before simply stating, "He doesn't _listen_."

Sasuke tilted his head, waiting for further explanation. He recalled that was one of the things she'd mentioned in her list of 'likes'. Naruto continued to pout, but also seemed to be paying attention.

Sakura tried to voice her objection, but seemed to have a hard time putting it into words. Finally, she said, "It's like he's _watching_ us, _observing_ us, but not actually _listening_ to us." She shrugged after that, trying to dismiss what she could only call a gut feeling.

Sasuke finally sighed and turned away. "I need to go get some supplies for this 'survival training'. See you tomorrow."

Sakura frowned and nodded, and likewise turned to make her way home.

Naruto shouted out defiantly from where he still stood, "Yeah! And we are so gonna kick his ass!"


End file.
